UN Spanish Language Day

The event was established by the UN's Department of Public Information in 2010, seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization". The day was firstly observed on 12 October to celebrate the Día de la Hispanidad in some Spanish-speaking countries for the discovery of American continent. Later, the day was changed to 23 April, to pay tribute to Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who died on 22 April 1616.

Cervantes had worked throughout his lifetime but never earned enough to lead a comfortable life. In 1605, Cervantes published the first part of Don Quixote, a novel that tells the story of an elderly man who became so enamored by the old stories of brave knights that he seeks out his own adventures. The book became the world’s first bestseller and was eventually translated into more than 60 different languages.