Spanish language students at Instituto Cervantes increase by 12% between 2009 and 2010

Here's an article from two weeks ago on the growth of interest in Spanish worldwide through stats provived by the Instituto Cervantes. I'm especially looking forward to a center being opened here in Seoul as I have an interest in seeking how Koreans find learning Spanish in comparison to English. Some info from the article:

Interest in the Spanish language throughout the world grew last year with 210,000 students and 57,000 people that took certification exams in 2009-2010, according to Carmen Caffarel, the director of the Instituto Cervantes. She announced in a press conference that Moscow was the centre with the largest number of registered students last year, followed by Warsaw and Casablanca, showing the diversity in the geographic interest in the language. The 210,000 students represented a 12% increase over the 187,000 from the year before (2008-2009), out of which 17,000 were for teacher training. The 57,000 people that took the DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) represented a 13% increase over the year before.

However, the budget for the institute in 2011 is expected to be 103 million euros, a 0.6% decrease over the year before. Because of this reduction it will not be possible to open new Centros Cenvantes, except those that are already scheduled to open in 2010 - Hamburg, Krakow, and Gibraltar.

In 2010 new centres were opened in New Delhi, Chicago, Rabat (Morocco) and Athens, and a search is still ongoing for a location in Seoul after arrangements were made for its establishment.

Despite the cuts, 32% of the budget of the Instituto Cervantes is funded by student fees, examinations, and something called el Círculo de Amigos (a group of wealthy fundraisers?).