The Spanish-Maltese Cultural Centre, which was set up in 1984, was saved from the brink of closure by four organisations, Middlesea Insurance, MSV Life, Bank of Valletta and The ADRC Trust. Closure of the centre was imminent as it was unable to finance its annual rent costs, were it not for these four companies, who agreed to cover these costs for the forthcoming year.

During a signing of an agreement between all the parties involved, measures to improve the sustainability of the Spanish-Maltese Centre were also discussed.

Thanks to this assistance, the Spanish-Maltese Cultural Centre remains open, offering a wide variety of Spanish language courses for all levels, including conversation classes, classes for children and classes about Spanish culture. Since it was set up, 5,000 students have already studied at the Spanish-Maltese Cultural centre.

“As a member of the Mapfre Group, in which Spanish is one of the official languages, it was impossible for Middlesea Insurance to ignore the plight of the Spanish Maltese Centre. In fact, the company in the past year had been utilising the services of the centre as our employees were being supported to study the Spanish language. We believe it would have been terrible to deny the opportunity to learn such a widely spoken language to the public in general,” said Alfredo Munoz, president and CEO of Middlesea Insurance plc.

David Curmi, MSV Life CEO, added that supporting such initiatives is in line with the organisation’s commitment to corporate social responsibility. “We are very proud to support an organisation which makes such a valuable input to society in terms of education,” he added.

“Education is one of the main pillars of BOV’s community programme. It is the key to improve individuals’ potential by providing them with the necessary tools to build a better future. Therefore we are committed to support educational initiatives such as the Spanish Maltese Centre,” said Charles Borg, CEO of Bank of Valletta.

“The ADRC Trust has been established by the Chalmers family in memory of our son and brother Alistair David Robert Chalmers, who died in 2012, aged just 31. The aim of this trust is to support those causes which were important to him. As a first class Honours graduate in Hispanic Studies from Bristol University, the Spanish language had a very special place in his heart. Above all, he was always a strong believer in providing opportunities to the young and in encouraging them to use their talents. The Spanish-Maltese Cultural Centre serves both the purposes of promoting Hispanic studies as well as opening a world of opportunities to young people, as any new language does, so we are happy to support such an organisation,” said Mary Rose Chalmers, a member of the Board of Protectors of The ADRC Trust.

Chiara Felice, director at the Spanish Maltese Centre, expressed her gratitude.

“This support, from these four organisations has given us the confidence to continue investing and promoting the centre and the Spanish language in Malta. The centre prides itself on offering the best standards of education, fully qualified teachers, small groups of students and above all a love for the language which we hope to transmit to others.”