Arturo Pérez-Reverte Criticises Foreign Affairs for 'Attempting to Colonise' the RAE via the Cervantes Institute

Author and language academic Arturo Pérez-Reverte has finally entered the fray between the Cervantes Institute and the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), calling the Cervantes director, Luis García Montero, 'mediocre and a sycophant', and accusing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of attempting to 'colonise' the RAE.

The author presented the sketch of the Captain Alatriste statue, which will be installed in Cartagena (Murcia) in 2026, at the RAE headquarters on Tuesday, choosing to avoid the controversy by simply stating that 'wars are bad'.

However, on Wednesday, through his X account, he decided to comment on the verbal battle between the two directors since García Montero claimed that 'the RAE is in the hands of an expert in running businesses from his office' - referring to its director, Santiago Muñoz Machado - on the eve of the X International Congress of the Spanish Language (CILE) in Peru, which both institutions are organising together with the host country.

Shortly after, the RAE plenary, meeting in Madrid, unanimously approved a statement describing this assertion as an 'attack' against Muñoz Machado and defending his 'extraordinary work' during his seven-year tenure, which he has democratically achieved twice.

Far from easing tensions in the Andean country, García Montero and Muñoz Machado led a tense press conference last Monday during the CILE presentation.

'It is simple to explain: the incompetence of successive Foreign Affairs ministers, especially the last one, has made us lose Hispanic America. The only prestigious diplomatic link that still remains with it, thanks to the RAE, is the Spanish language. Foreign Affairs, through its mediocre and sycophantic Cervantes director (a creature of Albares), intends to interfere there as well; to colonise the RAE's natural domain by elbowing its way into the spotlight,' Pérez-Reverte asserts on Wednesday.

In this regard, he continues to claim that 'if possible', in the near future, it is preparing to 'control' the Academy as well, if allowed to do so. 'In other words, to put it at its service and taint it as they have done with all Spanish institutions. This translates, in the case at hand, into a sinister mix of tangled egos and ill will,' he concludes.