November 28, 2022- Consul General Maria Theresa S.M. Lazaro, accompanied by Ms. Rosanna M. Sumala, Administrative and FilCom Relations Officer, visited the Iskwelang Pinoy and Idioma classes at the Escola Pia Sant Antoni on November 26, 2022.

Ms. Rosa "Tita Rosa" Irasusta, President of Centro Filipino-Tuluyan San Benito, Filipino community volunteers, parents, and students alike, warmly received the officials from the Philippine Consulate General. The younger students of Iskwelang Pinoy even performed a dance number and showed their newly acquired skills in Tagalog language to the visiting officials.

The officials also took the opportunity to inform the students of the Spanish classes of the commencement of registration for overseas voting on 09 December 2022 and encouraged all eligible applicants to register to be able to vote in the Philippine mid-term elections. The officials also entertained some questions on consular matters from the students.

The Iskwelang Pinoy and the Idioma classes are projects of the Centro Filipino-Tuluyan San Benito, a Filipino civic organization founded in 1986 in Barcelona that helps Filipinos integrate in Catalonia.  The Iskwelang Pinoy offers free classes to teach Filipino children in Barcelona Philippine history and culture, language, values and traditions. At present, Iskwelang Pinoy has seventy-five (75) students, aged 6 to 12, divided into four (4) classes according to age.

The Idioma classes, on the other hand, aims to help newly-arrived Filipinos in Barcelona integrate into their new environment and help them with their residency application by giving free Spanish and Catalan classes. At present, there are 240 Filipinos attending the free Spanish language classes offered Centro Filipino. The students are divided into eight (8) classes.

Both the Iskwelang Pinoy and the Idioma classes are held every Saturday at Escola Pia Sant Antoni. The classes are conducted by Filipino volunteers who unselfishly offer their services for free to help our kababayans integrate in the city.  Most of the younger volunteers are also graduates of the Iskwelang Pinoy.  At present there are more than forty volunteers at Centro Filipino. END