BY SHEENA FORDE-CRAIGG | JAN 17, 2023
From left to right – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds; Honorary Consul of Spain to Barbados, K. A. Connie Smith; Minister of State in Foreign Trade and Business, Sandra Husbands; and Spain’s Ambassador to Barbados, Fernando Nogales Álvarez, pose for a photograph following their meeting in the Ermyntrude “Ermy” Bourne Committee Room at Parliament, today. (S. Forde-Craigg/BGIS)
Government is committed to providing opportunities for Barbadians to become bilingual.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, stated this today during a courtesy call with non-resident Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to Barbados, Fernando Nogales Álvarez, in the Ermyntrude “Ermy” Bourne Committee Room at Parliament.
“There is a quiet desire to try to accelerate what is the long-standing dream in Barbados, which is to say, that we get the island to become bilingual. And I think what we really have to do is to intensify the accessibility of our people to opportunities to become conversationally comfortable,” Minister Symmonds stated, in reference to accessing tuition in Spanish courses.
Ambassador Álvarez, who resides in Trinidad, noted that his country is keen to interact more effectively with the English-speaking Caribbean.
The two officials also touched on several matters, including the Bridgetown Initiative, climate change, renewable energy, tourism, technical assistance in the area of offshore wind energy, and World Expo 2027.
Also present at the meeting were: Permanent Secretary (Ag.), Joy-Ann Skinner; Foreign Service Officer, Darren Carter, and Honorary Consul of Spain to Barbados, K. A. Connie Smith.
Barbados and Spain established diplomatic relations on September 29, 1980.
