GETTY Spanish language content has been removed from the White House website

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The site became an English-only site shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president on Friday. The Spanish version of the White House page was created in the months following President Barack Obama’s swearing-in in 2009. Internet users trying to access www.whitehouse.gov/espanol are getting a message saying, ‘Sorry, the page you’re looking for cannot be found’. The move is expected to be temporary, with the Washington Post quoting White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer today as saying the Spanish site would soon return and blaming work issues and a desire to “hit the ground running” and make sure as much information was put up under the Trump administration as soon as possible.

But the change did not stop high-ranking Spanish ministers from expressing their concern. Around 37 million people living in the States are believed to be fluent Spanish speakers, although another 15 million have a good notion of the language but don’t speak it regularly. Fernando Benzo, under-secretary of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, said he thought it was “logical” the US recognised the existence of their huge Spanish-speaking community.

IG The Spanish White House website address now brings up an error page

He said: “In the United States there is such a large Spanish-speaking community that it is logical that the institutions recognise its existence and importance in American society.” Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alfonso Dastis went a step further, insisting: “It doesn’t seem a good idea to us. We believe that in a country where 52 million people speak Spanish, it’s not a great idea to give up an instrument of communication.” Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo, Minister for Education, Culture and Sport described it as “not a good piece of news” but said it wouldn’t endanger the unstoppable progress of the language.

Earlier Dario Villanueva, the director of the Royal Spanish Academy, the official royal institution responsible for overseeing the Spanish language, described the disappearance of Spanish language content from the White House website as “negative, very significant and an important step backwards.” He said: “Without doubt it’s very significant and negative, but the presence of Spanish in the United States is unstoppable.” During his presidential campaign Trump spoke out several times against speaking Spanish in the United States.

The Life and Times of President Trump Fri, January 27, 2017 Trump in milestones: Facts about the U.S. President Donald J. Trump Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 14 January 20th, 2017. Donald Trump is sworn in as 45th President of America.