Portuguese language education to expand in Castille and Leon in Spain

This piece of news is from almost three weeks ago but I just noticed it today. I'm not sure exactly how to translate the term "presidente del Junta" (meaning the President of Castille and Leon) so I just went with president of the Council. Also note that Valladolid is the capital of the region, and that the "nine provinces" also means the entire area since Castille and Leon is made up of nine provinces. You can see here that it borders Portugal:


The decision to expand Portuguese language education is pretty much a no-brainer considering the ease by which it can be learned, the fact that Portugal (where it can be practiced) is right next door, and the 240 million people that speak it.

The president of the Council, Juan Vicente Herrera, returned to Valladolid with important agreements on cooperation between Castille and Leon and Portugal, with a special part on education.

The leader of the autonomous executive had an agreement this Wednesday in Lisbon with the Portuguese Minister of Education María de Lurdes Rodrigues on giving a strong boost to the teaching of Portuguese in the nine provinces.

For this, one of the main measures to be taken will be to make Portuguese an optional second language in primary and secondary school, as well as in official language schools and universities.

According to Herrera's explanation today there are around 3,000 children learning Portuguese as a second language, as well as more than 580 in schools of Castille and Leon.

"That is the way forward", signaled the president of the Council when he called the Portuguese language with 240 million speakers in the world at present "a language of future opportunities".

Nice flag, by the way.