In the same way, it is also not unusual for Spain to have a bit of the Philippines in its thoughts. Queen Sofia of Spain has expressed her admiration for the Loboc Children’s choir, and the Philippines’ oldest university, the University of Santo Tomas, still maintains close ties with Spain.

Instituto Cervantes adds yet another bond to such a storied past by holding the first ever non-stop reading of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere on June 16 and 17.

The marathon event that will also involve churros, chocolate, concerts and more will celebrate the inaguration of Instituto Cervantes’ new building at T. M. Kalaw street.

While this would not be the first time for Instituto Cervantes to hold a non-stop reading — they held a non-stop reading of Don Quijote dela Mancha last year to celebrate its centennial — Instituto Cervantes considers this first ever non-stop reading of the Noli has all the makings of becoming a memorable and historic event.

"The response of the public to last year’s non-stop reading was tremendous," remarks Javier Galvan, director of Instituto Cervantes. "After that, thinking about the new building, we said, ‘Why not? It’s a very important moment, very symbolic.’ Although we are looking towards the future, with the building’s modern design, we are still very much rooted in our past. We thought that the best way to look towards our future would be to look back at our common past."

The dates that were picked for the reading weren’t picked by chance as well. Since the reading will take 20 hours to finish, holding the reading on the weekend made perfect sense, allowing people to participate with out having to worry about whether they would be late for work the next day.

More importantly, though, is that the activity lines up perfectly with the celebrtion of Rizal’s birthday on the 19th.

"Rizal is a Filipino artist who is also very much a part of the Spanish heritage," says Galvan. "We thought it would be a special thing. If it were an inaguration of a Cervantes building in Budapest or New York, you can have an exhibit or a film showing. But the Instituto in Manila has a very special particularity, and it is our common past and our common roots. We think that this activity will symbolize how intertwined the Instituto is with the Philippines."

Such a task requires a lot of participants, and the non-stop reading of the Noli will require 250 readers each assigned to read two pages of the novel. With such a succesful turnout last year, Instituto is confident that they will once again meet their target number of readers this year. In fact, most of the reading slots have already been filled up.

"So far, we have been doing pretty well. If you want to sign up for a certain time, there are no more slots," explains Jose Maria Fons, Instituto Cervantes deputy for cultural affairs. "We need people for certain hours, from midnight to five in the morning. Those are the difficult hours to fill in. But seeing that we have just started, we’re doing pretty well and we’ve filled out most of the slots.

The reading, however, is merely the centerpiece in what is shaping up to be a very busy week for Instituto Cervantes. Along with preparations for the Instituto’s formal opening on the 13th, the 20 hour reading will have a lot of auxilliary activites attached to it.

"The reading of the Noli entitles a lot of activities," says Fons. "Seeing as the reading will take more than 20 hours, we will have a jazz concert on the first night. We will also have a midnight paella, offering all the readers who read at night free paella. We will also have chocolate con curros, which is very Rizalian. We might also have a second concert for the next night. We will also have free coffee and an exhibit which will be open all the time. There will be a whole variety of cultural events going on while the reading is being conducted."

With a whole plethora of things to do, Fons assures interested readers who may not be able to get the time slots that they wanted that there is still much they can participate in during the event.

"The event is a tribute to Rizal and his work, and you can participate in it either as a reader or as a listener," he says. "Even listening to it is a beautiful experience. You can read them alone, but there is a special dimension when you listen to them being read. You can pay tribute to Rizal’s work just by listening to the work being read in its original version. Besides, there is also a concert, gastronomic feasts. You can come out and go back in half an hour later."

As for the readers lucky enough to get slots, Fons says that one need not be a full-blodded Hispanophile to be appreciated at the event.

"A lot of readers are very, very good, and some aren’t. But they all come here to share and contribute something to the event — to put their own experience and their love of reading," he explains. "No matter if you have read the book or not, it is a completely different experience to just hear it read, no matter who is reading it."

"It is also beautiful to listen to the text being read in the same language, but in many different accents," adds Galvan.

Age, race, and social backgrounds are also not an impediment to participating in the event. While last year’s reading involved National Artisits and ambassadors from other Spanish-speaking countries, Fons also says that they had children as young as seven years old participating in the event. Filipinos also made up the majority of last year’s reading, although they did have participants from as far as Germany and China participating in the event.

The non-stop reading will definitely ensure that Instituto Cervantes’ new building will open with a bang. Fons and Galvan hope that aside from making Filipinos much more comfortable with the Spanish language, the event will also be a uniting experience for its participants.

"From my experience, they can take several things from this experience," says Fons. "They can bring home the joy of taking part in a challenge that is shared by a lot of people. It is special to be part of such a big event, since as far as we know it is the first time that the Noli is going to be read non-stop and in the original language."

"For many people it is fun to be part of an event, like a rock concert or basketball game, a crowd in tune in the same frequency," adds Galvan. "But then there is also that intangible feeling of being involved in something that involves history and a lot of relations between people and countries and culture. This kind of experience is something that can’t be put to words. To read the Noli here in Manila has a very, very special feeling to it."