Saturday 20th June marks the first official day of celebration of the Spanish language. All 73 centres of the Instituto Cervantes around the globe will celebrate the language spoken by 450 million people world wide, through a variety of activities.

The events begin at 11:00 (local time in each country) with a “shower of words” shot from a compressed air canon, with words like “abrazo” (hug), “amor” (love), “añoranza” (longing), “bailar” (dance), “beso” (kiss), “chévere” (cool), “fiesta” (party), “chocolate” (erm chocolate), “hola” (hello) and “sonrisa” (smile). These ten words also decorate the facades of the Instituto Cervantes.

In Madrid, the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Carmen Caffarel inaugurate a giant poetry wall, 150 meters in length, that volunteers can write improvised poems.

There have also been internet campaigns to find the favourite Spanish word from all Spanish speaking people, as well as suggesting new words to incorporate into the language. More than 50.000 Internet users from 110 countries have participated in this initiative and 2.623 words have been proposed.