The language academies supported the head of the RAE (Royal Academy of Spanish Language) in the midst of the controversy with the Cervantes Institute.

The twenty academies of the Spanish language that make up the ASALE association has supported the "firm intellectual and cultural leadership" developed by its president and also director of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), Santiago Muñoz Machado , in a statement released this Friday, the closing day of the 10th International Congress of the Spanish Language in Arequipa (Peru).

"ASALE unanimously supports your initiative and shares your program of action , both at the institutional level and in the numerous projects we develop together to serve the needs of Spanish speakers around the world in these complex times," the signatories state.

Although not explicitly mentioned, the statement comes in response to the controversy that erupted last week and continued throughout the conference, due to accusations by the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero , questioning Muñoz Machado's work.

The declaration was approved during a meeting in Arequipa of the Academies of the Spanish Language of Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Panama, Cuba, Paraguay, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Puerto Rico, the United States of America, and Equatorial Guinea.

Muñoz Machado did not attend that meeting , given the content of the deliberations and the agreement adopted.

The academics also expressed their satisfaction with the work carried out during this week's conference, focusing on three areas: cultural diversity and interculturality, clear and accessible language, digital cultures, and artificial intelligence, and they expressed their gratitude to the host country, Peru, for organizing the event.

At the same time , they expressed their "immense gratitude" for the presence of the King of Spain, Felipe VI , at the inaugural session last Wednesday. "His commitment once again demonstrates the strength of his support for everything related to the strengthening and unity, within its diversity, of the Spanish language in our countries and in the broader Spanish-speaking community," they stated.

The controversy between the Cervantes Institute and the RAE erupted last week following statements by García Montero criticizing the Royal Spanish Academy for not being in the hands of a philologist but rather a professor of administrative law "expert in conducting business from offices for multimillion-dollar companies."

In response, the RAE plenary issued a statement expressing its "absolute rejection" of these "incomprehensible statements," which it considered offensive, and defended the work carried out by Muñoz Machado over the past seven years as head of both the RAE and ASALE (Association of Academies of the Spanish Language).

At the press conference at the start of the Congress last Monday, García Montero asserted that there are "many" differences between the two and noted that the current dispute relates to the succession of Muñoz Machado as head of the RAE, as his term expires at the end of 2026.

On Wednesday, writer and academic Arturo Pérez-Reverte deepened the controversy by criticizing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which oversees the Cervantes Academy, through "its mediocre and lackey" director, García Montero, for attempting to "intervene" and "colonize" the Royal Spanish Academy of Language to "put it at its service and contaminate it."