Spanish will be the third foreign language in the Emirates' secondary school curriculum

Another step forward in the good bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Spain thanks to the latest Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Ministry of Education of the UAE and the Ministry of Education of the Spanish Kingdom, which makes it possible for Spanish to become the third foreign language to be studied in the Gulf country's secondary schools. 

This initiative makes it possible for the Spanish language to become even more established in the Middle Eastern country; a situation that helps to bring the two countries closer together socially and culturally. 

Along these lines, at the beginning of June it was also announced that the Spanish School of Abu Dhabi (SSAD) will be the first school with a Spanish curriculum in Abu Dhabi and that it will open its doors for the next academic year 2020-2021.

Even Spain put forward the proposal to open ten schools in the Emirates after a meeting last March between Eva Martinez, the Spanish Director General for the Maghreb and the Middle East, and the Emirates' Minister of State, Zaki Nusseibeh.

The cooperation between the two nations continues to be strengthened in this way. In fact, Pedro Duque, Spain's Minister of Science and Innovation, recently met with Majid al-Suwaidi, the Emirate's ambassador to Spain, demonstrating this closeness between the two states. “Relations with Spain at the moment are the best that we have ever had”, remarked Al-Suwaidi himself.

Also in view of the current serious problem of the coronavirus pandemic, the Emirates and Spain are strengthening their ties. In early June, Spanish biologists arrived to promote the detection of COVID-19 in order to help local medical workers on the front line of the coronavirus health crisis.