Instituto Cervantes

What Instituto Cervantes is

Instituto Cervantes is a Spanish institution for teaching the Spanish language and spreading Spanish culture, with its central headquarters (Sede Central) on cervantes.org and centers in Spain and around the world. For a learner it is three things at once: a school with classroom courses at its centers, an online course provider through its AVE Global platform, and the body behind the DELE diplomas, which its home page calls "Los títulos oficiales que acreditan tu español" (the official qualifications that certify your Spanish). The site's copyright line reads "Instituto Cervantes (España), 1991-2026".

The center directory on the home page shows how far the network reaches. In Germany alone it lists Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Bremen and Hamburg; elsewhere it lists Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse, Manchester and Leeds, Rome, Milan and Palermo, Cairo, Casablanca, Rabat, Shanghai, Manila, Dakar, centers across Brazil from São Paulo to Recife, and in the United States Chicago, Albuquerque and Los Angeles. Smaller sites carry the name Aula Cervantes, among them Seattle, Zagreb, Nicosia and Hanoi. Each center has its own site linked from that directory, such as berlin.cervantes.es or chicago.cervantes.es.

AVE Global, the online courses

AVE Global is the institute's online Spanish course line. The Los Angeles center's page describes it as "the online Spanish courses offered by the Cervantes Institute, developed according to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), from level A1 to C1." The platform holds a total of 16 courses supported by didactic materials, videos and interactive exercises. Each course takes 30 hours, the modality is online and self-paced, and the page says you can learn "whenever and wherever you want, even through mobile devices, in an effective, autonomous, and enjoyable way."

Enrollment goes through the Cervantes Institute's online store, which the main site lists in its services menu as "Comercio en línea del IC" (the institute's online shop). In practice a learner picks the course for their CEFR level, buys it in the store, and works through it on a computer or phone on their own schedule. The 16 courses running from A1 to C1 mean a learner can go from first words to advanced Spanish on one platform without switching providers, with every course built against the same framework that the DELE levels use.

The home page also promotes a "Microcurso gratuito de español en línea" (free online Spanish micro-course) with a sign-up button, a low-commitment way to try online study with the institute before buying a full course. The pages show no prices for the AVE Global courses themselves.

Classroom and private courses

The Los Angeles center shows what a center offers on top of AVE Global: General Spanish Courses, Spanish Courses for Children and Adolescents, DELE Preparation Courses, Private Spanish Lessons, and Special Courses and Thematic Workshops, with a Frequently Asked Questions page for students. Its site switches between Spanish and English.

The main site's course menu separates courses in Spain, courses around the world and online courses, and adds courses in Catalan, Galician and Basque ("Cursos de catalán, gallego y vasco"). That matches the home page's own description of its courses as a way to learn Spanish and the co-official languages of Spain ("Aprender español y las lenguas cooficiales de España"). The same menu has a section called "Cómo enseñamos" (how we teach) and a teacher-training area.

Exams and certification

The exams menu covers DELE, DELE for schoolchildren ("DELE para escolares"), SIELE, DADIC and CCSE. A news item on the home page shows how the DELE calendar works. Registration was open for the last DELE session of 2026, held worldwide on 13 and 14 November, and candidates could sit every level: Escolares A1, A2/B1 and B2/C1 for school students, and Generales A1, A2, A2-NA, B1, B2, C1 and C2. Registration for the 2027 DELE sessions opens on 18 November, according to the same item.

The Los Angeles page groups DELE and SIELE under "Spanish Diplomas", next to Accreditation, and its course list includes dedicated DELE Preparation Courses, so a learner can prepare for the exam and sit it with the same institution. The home page's FAQ list has short explainers headed "¿Qué es el AVE Global?", "¿Qué es el DELE?" and "¿Qué es el SIELE?", plus entries on the CCSE, the DADIC, the CEFR (MCER in Spanish) and the SACIC. The completion of an AVE Global course and the award of a DELE diploma are separate things: the course is study, the diploma is an exam.

Library, culture and app

Beyond courses, the institute runs a network of libraries (Red de bibliotecas) with membership ("Hazte socio"), interlibrary loan and a shared catalog, plus an electronic library the home page describes as "Libros, audiolibros y recursos electrónicos a un clic" (books, audiobooks and electronic resources a click away). The electronic library includes virtual reading clubs (Clubes virtuales de lectura), a virtual film club (Cineclub virtual) and an app for mobile devices, and the institution also lists an "App del Instituto Cervantes". For a learner past the beginner levels, reading and watching in Spanish through the library is a useful companion to a course.

A cultural program of exhibitions, film, literature, visual arts, music and stage events runs at centers worldwide. Recent home page items included a photography exhibition on Valencian festivals at the Toulouse center, open until 29 January 2027, and a colloquium on the art worlds of Spain and the United Kingdom.

For teachers there is "Formación de profesores" (teacher training), made up of the institute's own training activities and collaboration with other institutions, a page on how to become a teacher at the institute ("Ser profesor del IC"), and an accreditation scheme for Spanish teaching centers ("Centros acreditados", with a guide to becoming one). The site also lists publications, a press room with live broadcasts, a digital transformation plan (Plan de Transformación digital), a user service desk (Servicio de atención al usuario) and the Premio Ñ.

Who it suits and who it doesn't

AVE Global suits adults who want a structured, self-paced Spanish course from the institution that also runs the DELE, and who are comfortable studying alone with materials, videos and exercises. With 30 hours per course and 16 courses from A1 to C1, it fits a learner who wants a clear, long progression rather than a quick app habit. A learner aiming for the DELE can combine the online courses with a DELE Preparation Course at a center and then sit the exam with the same institution.

People living near one of the centers have the widest choice: classroom groups, private lessons, children's courses and thematic workshops, plus library membership and cultural events. Learners who want a teacher's live feedback will get it from a center's classes or private lessons rather than from AVE Global, which is self-paced study. Schools and companies building their own courses are not the audience; this is a learner product run by a language and cultural institution.