Spain's Queen Letizia inaugurates new Instituto Cervantes de Los Ángeles to promote Spanish language
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Queen Letizia of Spain walked the red carpet in Los Angeles Tuesday to inaugurate the new Instituto Cervantes de Los Ángeles, a global organization established by the Spanish government to promote the study and use of the Spanish language.
"That is what we love of Los Angeles, that diversity, that richness in culture," said Gustavo Dudamel, conductor and L.A. Philharmonic's music and artistic director.
Among the other big names who were there to celebrate, there were actors and directors who've made significant contributions to bilingual, multicultural storytelling through film. Mexican actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Eugenio Derbez was also there.
Derbez stressed that he's intentional about depicting the real world in his work, including the use of Spanglish.
"People, they speak both languages all the time. Spanish, English, they switch and that's the way life is," Derbez said. "The Instituto Cervantes is trying to support Spanish and to make people understand how important it is."
Instituto Cervantes de Los Ángeles is now the seventh in the U.S. and one of dozens around the world. The L.A. institute's director and writer, Luisgé Martín said the institute will collaborate with universities, museums and film academies to promote not only the Spanish language, but the diversity of cultures among those who speak it.
This comes during a powerful shift in Hollywood and entertainment.
"When I first got here like 20 years ago, I remember that nobody wanted me because of my accent," said Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. "It was so hard for me."
Derbez, Del Castillo and Alessandra Rosaldo are part of the changes taking place in film.
"When I was a child, when I was a teenager, everything was in English. And if you wanted to make it in the world, you had to speak English, and now it doesn't have to be like that," Rosaldo said.
Castillo mentioned that there are still many stereotypes to break.
"I think there's a lot to do...But it's really thrilling to see more and more of Spanish everywhere," she said.
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