This article deals with the historical process of constructing the political domain of the Spanish language in the world. Unlike other European languages, this space had already begun to be established in the sixteenth century with the political expansion of the Iberian kingdoms. Both the particular sociohistorical conditions in the different regions of Latin America and the unequal standardisation processes account for the diversity of the Spanish varieties spoken in that continent. From a normative perspective, the domain of Spanish is defined by tension between a clear pluricentralism and an effort to constitute a sole centre in Spain, reflected in the normative instruments developed by the Real Academia Española. This attempt at control gave rise to a pan-Hispanic policy in the 1990s, featuring a tutelary acceptance of diversity and emphasis on the language's economic value. At present, new initiatives, both standardising and economic, that have emerged in Latin America are beginning to shape a new phase in the international management of Spanish.
language policy; hispanism; standardization