Today's is a special broadcast marking the 70th anniversary of Radio Exterior de España, whose English-language service has been on the air now for almost as long--68 years. The first half hour we broadcast live from the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute (Instituto Cervantes) at Calle Alcalá 49 in central Madrid. In the second half hour we hear from listeners from around the world, and also listen to some short excerpts from recently-broadcast interviews. The first part of today's broadcast is before a live audience, and our guests include former Spanish foreign minister and one-time ambassador in Washington, Carlos Westendorp, and former Spanish ambassador in London and ex-head of the Cervantes Institute, Santiago Mora de Figueroa y Williams, Marqués de Tamarón. We also talk to former colleagues Gil Carbajal and Roderick Lee, who were both working at the Radio on February 23rd, 1981, the day that a group of rebel Civil Guardsmen led by Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero entered Spanish parliament and held its deputies hostage in an attempted coup d'état. And we talk to English professor Fernando Marín Arrese and English student María Ángeles Granda from the Official Language School (Escuela Oficial de Idiomas), and to Annie McDonald, an author of English language teaching books. It so happens that the Official Language School is also celebrating an important anniversary this year--its 100th birthday. The EOI's website can be visited at: www.eoidiomas.com . The Cervantes Institute is a public institution created by the Spanish government in 1991 with the aim of teaching and promoting the Spanish language and Spanish culture around the world. The Cervantes Institute, which operates in 77 cities in 44 countries around the world, also offers courses in Spain's other official languages: Catalan, Basque, and Galician. The Institute's website can be visited at: www.cervantes.es
