The Spanish Language in the World

Spanish is a global language of strategic importance as a line of action in Spain's foreign policy.

The international promotion of Spanish is a strategic pillar of Spain's external action. Spanish boast the second highest number of native speakers of any language, with a Spanish-speaking community of over 500 million. Including non-native speakers, Spanish speakers exceed 600 million worldwide, or 7.5% of the world's population. The Instituto Cervantes Yearbook provides data reflecting the importance of Spanish today every year.

Organisational structure

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation is responsible, through SEPICEM, for the “formulation, coordination and execution of Spain's foreign policy for the defence and promotion of Spanish around the world” (RD 1184/2024). Since 2021, the MAEUEC relies on the Directorate General for Spanish in the World, under the auspices of the State Secretariat for Ibero-America, the Caribbean and Spanish in the World. Its objective is to ensure the coherence of the State's action in the projection of the language abroad and to optimise the full potential that Spanish offers in the international sphere.

The following bodies all fall under the auspices of the MAEUEC:

The Cervantes Institute, which universally promotes the teaching, study and use of Spanish with 100 branches in 54 countries on five continents.
The AECID, which plays an important role in this field, inter alia through its lectureship programme.
The Global Observatory of Spanish, a body led by the Cervantes Institute that aims to become a key tool for shaping strategic actions to promote and disseminate our language.

Public Diplomacy

The promotion of Spanish in multilateral diplomacy is a key objective of our foreign policy, in collaboration with the other countries that have Spanish as an official language. Spain has bilaterally signed 12 memoranda of understanding with Ibero-American countries for the promotion of Spanish in the diplomatic sphere and in international organisations. The memoranda underline the global nature of Spanish and its status as an official language of the United Nations, promoting the strengthening of the different Groups of Friends of Spanish.

Other areas of particular importance for the MAEUEC in the field of Spanish geopolitics are the promotion of Spanish in science and technology (especially in the development of a Spanish-trained AI that reflects the weight of Spanish in its global linguistic diversity) and the fight against disinformation in Spanish, as a strategic asset in the defence of digital and cognitive sovereignty against technological architectures and disinformation campaigns.

The director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis Garcia Montero, and the director general, Carmen Noguero, with the children of the philologist and professor Manuel Alvar during the presentation of his legacy in the Caja de las Letras at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid. EFE

Group photo of the presentation ceremony of the Global Observatory of Spanish, held at the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in November 2023. MAUC

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