Instituto Cervantes

The Instituto Cervantas was founded in 1991 by the Spanish government to promote Spanish language and knowledge about the cultures of Spanish speaking countries all over the world. The centre hosts language and dance classes — including flamenco, salsa and tango — as well as the occasional exhibition, live music performance and film screening. As well as language courses, the centre organises Spanish teacher training courses along with supporting Hispanic people with their work. They also partner with other organisations to host cultural events throughout the year. The centre also has a library — the Jorge Edwards library is one of 63 across the world that are associated with the centre — and stocks a huge collection of Spanish and Latin American literature, films and music as well as information on history, politics, geography and more. The library also hosts reading and Spanish conversation groups for socialising or to practice language skills. [Charlotte Davies]