Scuola Statale Italiana di Madrid – Italian State School of Madrid

The Italian state school in Madrid opened in 1940 and began teaching in 1940/1941 academic year. It taught children from elementary school to high school age, soon adding a nursery school. A the time, the school was an Italo – Spanish institute: on the one hand it worked by following the structure of an Italian school; on the other hand it embraced the guiding principles of the Spanish curriculum. Starting from 1949/1950 academic year, the school gradually established itself, becoming one of the most prestigious institutions in Spain. In 1955, the Cultural Agreement between Italy and Spain was signed in Rome. At the end of the 1960s, after a period of mismatch between the systems and programmes of the two countries, the Italian school was able to obtain official recognition thanks to an ordinance of the Spanish government, which established that foreign schools would teach the subjects of Spanish Language, Literature, History and Geography. Since then, the teaching of Italian curricular subjects has been integrated with the study of the Spanish language and culture. The final academic qualifications awarded by the Madrid school have legal value both in Italy and in Spain.