Spain concerned after White House removes Spanish-language website

World Today

White House removes Spanish website, sparking concerns from Spain

Spain is joining in the criticism of the White House after it dropped its Spanish language website, though administration officials said they are working on new site.

CGTN’s Dan Williams reports.

Relations between Spain and the U.S. have been on an upward trend in recent years. But events over the last few weeks have raised some questions.

Hundreds in Spain protested against Donald Trump’s presidency in January and not long afterwards, the Spanish language service was removed from the White House website. A spokesperson said the move is temporary while the site is being updated, but it has led to concern among Spanish politicians.

Trump’s anti-immigration stance and his threat to build a wall along the Mexican border have offended Hispanics throughout the U.S.

Last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reportedly phoned Mexico’s president to offer support in finding a solution to the deteriorating relationship between the neighboring countries.

“The message Donald Trump is sending is ‘We don’t want you here. We want to be real Americans and real Americans only speak English.’ And of course, language is a part of that whole message he is sending,” Jose Antonio Gurpegui Palacios, a researcher at Instituto Franklin said.

The question for many now concerns the future and whether this incident will have a negative impact on U.S.-Spanish relations.

Some international relations experts believe that won’t be an issue.

“The good news is that relations between Spain and the U.S. are very multi-level and very dynamic. Spain is in an interesting position because it feels much tied to its former colonies in Latin America and especially through the cultural ties through language,” International Relations Analyst Alana Moceri said.