In Madrid’s downtown area, a classical manor with a salmon-colored façade and marbled walls from the 19th century looms large. At the base of its 40-foot pediment, a sign reads: “Real Academia Española” (“Royal Spanish Academy”). This institution dictates the formal rules of the Spanish language, including the acceptance and regulation of new words. In 2019, the academy’s members gathered here and settled on a spelling and pronunciation of a certain term for an updated digital edition of the dictionary: reguetón. The academy’s acknowledgement of this new word was a milestone, revealing how reggaeton had become an undeniable part of the Spanish cultural landscape.
