‘Salamanca Ciudad del Español’ is present today in the grand final of the II National Spanish Contest in Austria, held in Vienna. This initiative, organized by the Ministry of Education of the Spanish Embassy in Vienna, in collaboration with the Cervantes Institute and the Austrian Association of Spanish Teachers (AAPE), aims to promote the learning of Spanish among Austrian students and recognize their effort and motivation for this language.
The nine finalists selected in the different educational regions of Austria participate in this event, which is attended by distinguished authorities such as the Education Counselor of the Spanish Embassy in Switzerland and Austria, Antonio Serrano; the Spanish Ambassador to Austria, Aurora Mejía; and the director of the Cervantes Institute in Vienna, Mila Crespo Picó, as well as representatives of AAPE and the Association of Spaniards in Austria.
The jury for this edition is composed of representatives from the embassies of Spain, Argentina, and Mexico, reflecting the international and pan-Hispanic nature of the Spanish language.
The interest in Spanish in the Austrian educational system has experienced significant growth in the last decade. Since the 2011/12 school year, the number of students studying Spanish has increased from 37,292 (3.4% of total students) to 56,507 in the 2022/23 school year, representing 5.2% of the total student body. Spanish has become the only foreign language to increase its number of students in Austria, while other languages, including English, have seen a decline. Particularly striking is the case of French, which has lost over 45% of students in the last 14 years, dropping from 10.2% to 5.4%. Spanish has already surpassed Italian and Latin in the number of students.
The presence of Salamanca at this event reinforces its position as an internationally recognized city for the teaching of Spanish, a destination chosen every year by thousands of students from around the world to learn the language in a unique heritage, university, and cultural environment.