Background on FundéuRAE and its Significance
The Fundación del Español Urgente (FundéuRAE) is a Spanish organization dedicated to promoting the correct and consistent use of the Spanish language. Established in collaboration with the Real Academia Española, FundéuRAE aims to address language-related issues and foster linguistic accuracy in various media. The organization’s annual selection of a “Word of the Year” highlights pressing topics and linguistic trends in Spanish-speaking communities.
Word of the Year 2025: “Arancel”
At a ceremony presided over by Queen Letizia of Spain, FundéuRAE announced “arancel” (tariff) as its word of the year for 2025. The term outperaced other contenders such as trumpismo, apagón (power outage), boicot (boycott), dron, generación Z, macroincendio (large-scale wildfire), macrorredada (massive data collection), papa (pope), preparacionista (preparationist), rearme (armament), and tierras raras (rare earths).
The Event and Participants
Queen Letizia presided over the celebration marking the twentieth anniversary of FundéuRAE, an event organized in conjunction with the Real Academia Española. The solemn occasion also saw the attendance of Spain’s Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo. During the event, the word of the year was unveiled.
Queen Letizia’s Remarks
In her address, Queen Letizia humorously acknowledged the audience’s collective frustration with grammatical errors and linguistic inaccuracies. She expressed her enjoyment of being among language enthusiasts and emphasized the importance of linguistic rigor, precision, and flexibility.
Appreciation for FundéuRAE’s Efforts
Queen Letizia commended FundéuRAE for its contributions in resolving language-related issues and praised the efforts of the “filólogas y periodistas” (philologists and journalists) comprising the small team behind FundéuRAE, consisting of four women and two men.
Real Academia Española Representation
Santiago Muñoz Machado, Director of the Real Academia Española and President of FundéuRAE, also attended the ceremony. This marked the thirtieth instance of FundéuRAE selecting its word of the year.
Previous Words of the Year
FundéuRAE’s previous word of the year selections include:
- Escrache (2013): A public shaming or protest aimed at individuals or organizations.
- Selfi (2014): A self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a smartphone.
- Refugiado (2015): A person who has fled their home country due to war, persecution, or natural disaster.
- Populismo (2016): A political approach emphasizing the concerns of ordinary people.
- Aprofobia (2017): Fear or dislike of housing or property.
- Microplástico (2018): Tiny plastic particles less than 5mm in size.
- Emojis (2019): Small digital images or icons used to express emotions in text messages.
- Confinamiento (2020): Quarantine or isolation, particularly in response to a pandemic.
- Vacuna (2021): A vaccine, especially in the context of combating COVID-19.
- Inteligencia artificial (2022): Artificial intelligence.
- Polarización (2023): The division of society into opposing groups with extreme contrasting views.
- DANA (2024): An acronym for a series of storms affecting the Iberian Peninsula.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is FundéuRAE? FundéuRAE is a Spanish organization dedicated to promoting correct and consistent use of the Spanish language, addressing linguistic issues, and fostering accuracy in various media.
- Who presided over the ceremony announcing the word of the year 2025? Queen Letizia of Spain presided over the ceremony.
- What was the word of the year 2025 chosen by FundéuRAE? “Arancel” (tariff) was selected as the word of the year 2025.
- How many times has FundéuRAE chosen a word of the year? This marked the thirtieth instance of FundéuRAE selecting its word of the year.
