The initiative, promoted by the Independent Foundation, has had the support of 39 institutions and outstanding entities
Xabier Añoveros, full academician and vice president of the Governing Board of the Royal European Academy of Doctors-Barcelona 1914 (RAED), participated on November 30 in the presentation of the reissue of the book on the Universal Tribute to the Spanish Language in the Spanish Council of State. A week before it had presented at the Cervantes Institute in Tokyo. Añoveros has been one of the promoters of an activity that has developed over the last three years around the world with an excellent reception.
The publication includes the events held during 2015 in the framework of the Tribute with the aim of enhancing the value of a language that has more than 500 million speakers. The initiative, promoted by the Independent Foundation, has had the support of 39 institutions and outstanding entities such as the Royal Spanish Academy and the most prestigious universities and foundations of Spain. The volume includes the testimonies of national and international personalities, including eight heads of State, and the speeches of the winners of the Cervantes prizes and the Nobel prizes of literature in Spanish.
Attendees included the president of the Council of State, Juan Manuel Romay Beccaria; the president of the Independent Foundation, Aldo Olcese; and the president of the Executive Committee of the Universal Tribute to the Spanish Language, Ignacio Buqueras. José Manuel Romay stressed the importance of the Tribute and the satisfaction that the presentation of the book is occasioned in the Council. Aldo Olcese highlighted the effort made by the Independent Foundation for more than three years in the organisation of the same and the will to continue promoting the value of Spanish linked to education and books.
Ignacio Buqueras reported on the gestation of the Universal Tribute in 2013, in his time as president of the Independent Foundation, and the four stages of it. The Tribute was a continuity to the tributes of the Universal Spaniards that since 1996 every year the Foundation organizes. It began with that of Camilo José Cela, continued with Plácido Domingo, 1997, and Vicente Ferrer, 1998. Among others, Julio Iglesias, Miguel Induráin, Margarita Salas, Rafael Nadal, Valentín Fuster and Juan Miguel Villar Mir have also been recognized. The book has been delivered to prominent personalities from various countries, including Pope Francis, the first Spanish-speaking pontiff in more than 500 years.
