“The Academy will be a company” – La Rioja

José Manuel Blecua (Zaragoza, 1939), responsible for the RAE until yesterday in a “hard” stage and announced a “decision alone with myself” to not stand for a second term. Economic problems of the institution have been ‘decisive’. “The Academy is in the process of restructuring. It has created a company that makes autonomous independent of potential state grants and sponsorships pro RAE Foundation. This is not an easy transformation and now opens the procedure. The company will have a board of directors and a chief executive who is the director of the Academy. The Governing Board shall elect who ‘.

The academic chair ‘h’ assumed leadership last year the Government of Rodríguez Zapatero as the RAE was a “state project” and has developed with the Government of Rajoy. “The case of the RAE is a bit special, perhaps because of its importance in recent years in education, in relation to America in the Fundeu. You have to give answers to a changing society, “explains he was also director of the Cervantes Institute.

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“We are in a different situation determined by the changing role and income from sale of books,” he says. “We have 700,000 followers in Twitter. It has changed our relationship with the user, who is no longer a gentleman who buys the dictionary or grammar in the library, but we often see or even we have in the ‘banner’ computer. There is a change in society and that requires the HKSAR to confront his, it’s hard. To work needs to be firm. ”

It is hard to imagine academic by the criterion of profitability. What will happen to the lexicographers preparing the work of each committee? “They are contract staff. In terms of profitability, will be a challenge, “he says with mischievous grin. “What is certain is that the state can not subsidize the SAR. It has been declining economic game. A country with five million unemployed have serious problems to solve. ”

From the couch ‘h’ will continue to investigate in dictionaries eighteenth century, the passion that went public precisely in his inaugural speech in the SAR. And attending the weekly evolution of his team, Real Zaragoza.

In his speech in the conference ‘Future of Spanish’, recalled Blecua linking the Academy with communication. “Since 2005 we respond to questions from journalists and every morning we see the difficulties you face. Encode the language this is complicated. “