Language tourism was the talk of the capital of the Costa del Sol earlier this month when more than 500 professionals gathered to share views, exchange information and debate future trends as part of the inaugural Malaga Education Week.
Organised by the Association of Spanish Language Schools in Malaga, the aim of MEW was to focus the attention of the study abroad industry on Malaga as a first-class destination to learn Spanish.
“[International students] leave Malaga as ambassadors of our great city”
Malaga has 28 centres for teaching Spanish as a foreign language, which represents nearly half of the offer in Andalusia and 15% of the total in Spain.
Some 13,000 people choosing to study Spanish in Malaga every year.
The week was made up of three separate events, including the 8th ECELE meeting where the selling points of Malaga as a study destination were emphasised by Malaga’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre.
VIP attendees included the president of FEDELE Mari Carmen Timor, the president of NACEM and AEEA José María Casero, the representative of the Instituto Cervantes, Isidoro Castellanos, and the director general of “Turismo y Planificación Costa del Sol”, Arturo Bernal.
De la Torre highlighted the importance of the language sector to Malaga and that students from all over the world are made to feel welcome.
“[International students] leave Malaga as ambassadors of our great city,” he added.
As part of the celebrations, 33 teachers of 17 different nationalities met with representatives of 34 schools from all over Spain came to enjoy places of cultural interest, visit the schools in Malaga and create new opportunities for co-operation.
The Malaga Congress event brought together the Instituto Cervantes, the University of Malaga and the private language schools to encourage working together in the promotion of Spanish and Malaga as the main destination for studying the language.
A conference rounded off the successful week, cementing the importance of the Spanish language and Malaga’s role in it.
Earlier in 2018, the importance of learning Spanish as a foreign language was highlighted in the UK when a British Council poll revealed one in five adults are planning to learn a language in this year, with Spanish being the most popular choice.
