Universal drive of Spanish

Article written by all the Spanish-speaking resident ambassadors in Port of Spain on the occasion today of the United Nations Spanish Language Day

ALMOST 500 million people have Spanish as their mother tongue today. In addition, another 100 million can speak it, which means 7.5 per cent of the global population. Spanish is the second language with most native speakers in the world, ahead of English. Moreover, currently 24 million people study it as a foreign language. Mexico is the country with most Spanish speakers in the world, and it is calculated that by 2060 the United States will be second.

Spanish language is born in Castille after an evolution from Latin that spanned several centuries. Following the meeting of two worlds in XV century America, this language will become native for millions of speakers, with an undeniable universal drive.

Spanish language attests to the fellowship and the huge historical and cultural ties of the countries where it is spoken as an official language: 19 in America, one in Europe and one in Africa. It is actually in America where the countries with the most native speakers can be found: Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.

Additionally, the third oldest university in the world is located in the Spanish city of Salamanca (1,134), and the oldest in the Americas are in the Dominican Republic (1,538), Mexico (1,551), Peru (1,551), Colombia (1,580), Argentina (1,613), Chile (1,643) and Cuba (1,728).

On this day, more than 400 years ago, Miguel de Cervantes died. His Quixote is the second most read book in history, just after the Bible. It also led the Norwegian Book Club’s vote in 2002 as “the best literary piece ever written.” Eleven Spanish-speaking writers have won the Nobel Literature Prize.

Spanish is the language of several literary masters born on both sides of the Atlantic and even the Pacific. Spanish also has a vast influence in popular music to express feelings, from flamenco and tango to salsa, cumbia and reggaeton, including Vene-Trinidadian parang.

Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is also official in almost every international organisation in the Americas, including the Association of Caribbean States, and in the European Union. It is an official language in the African Union too. That means it has that condition in supranational organisations in three continents.

On the other hand, Spanish is key in the dissemination of scientific documents, being second with the most publications. Spanish is the third most present language online, and the second most used on the main digital platforms and social media such as Netflix, Wikipedia, Facebook, etc.

Finally yet importantly, from an economical point of view, sharing a language almost doubles bilateral trade, but in the case of the Iberoamerican Community of Nations, it is quadrupled. In that sense, the Spanish-speaking community worldwide has a purchase power of around nine per cent of the global GDP.

It is estimated that 1.2 billion people could speak Spanish by the year 2100. Why don’t you become one of them?

Signed by all Spanish-speaking resident embassies to Trinidad and Tobago: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Spain and Venezuela