What is the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language?

The Association of Academies of the Spanish Language

La Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (ASALE)

1951. In 1951 the president of Mexico, Miguel Alemán, convened the first congress of all the academies of the Spanish language in Mexico City.

Where: The whole Spanish-speaking world, Mexico City, Madrid

What happened

In 1951 the president of Mexico, Miguel Alemán, convened the first congress of all the academies of the Spanish language in Mexico City. Franco's government forbade the Real Academia Española to attend, yet the congress went ahead and created the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (ASALE), and the unity of the academies survived the political quarrel. The American academies had been founded one by one since 1871, when the Academia Colombiana became the first, following a proposal made in 1870 by the Mexican-born academician Fermín de la Puente Apezechea; the North American and Philippine academies followed, and the Academia Ecuatoguineana joined on 19 March 2016, making 23 members. Since the 1990s it has co-signed every major academic work.

Say it

Veintitrés academias cuidan juntas la lengua española.

Twenty-three academies look after the Spanish language together.

Why it matters

ASALE turned the Spanish norm from a Madrid monopoly into a shared, 'panhispanic' project of 23 countries, which is why one dictionary and one spelling serve 500 million speakers.

Read about it

Connected

Sources

  1. La Asociación: presentación — ASALE
  2. La Real Academia Española: trescientos años (Anuario 2013) — Centro Virtual Cervantes
  3. Política panhispánica — ASALE
  4. Real Academia Española: Historia — ASALE