Syed Mukarram Nazeer, Canada Correspondent
The Ahmadiyya Spanish Desk Canada organised a meeting with Mr Eduardo Urueña, a journalist and former publisher of the Canadian Spanish language daily newspaper El Popular which was founded in Toronto on 11 September 1970 as a weekly publication.
Toronto has grown with a thriving Hispanic community, now estimated at 650,000 in Greater Toronto Area. It includes immigrants from Latin America, Spain and Spanish-Jewish Morocco. More than 70,000 Hispanics call the province of Quebec their home. Pockets of Hispanics are also located in other provinces.
Among the foreign-born Canadians who have a non-English, non-French mother tongue, Spanish-speaking people represent the 4th largest population in Canada (5.8%) and are growing.
El Popular website ranks itself among the ten largest newspapers in Toronto. It is published daily electronically. When it comes to multicultural newspapers, El Popular is the fourth largest multicultural media outlet and is 100% Canadian-owned.
Mr Eduardo Urueña is a good friend of the Jamaat and attended the 2016 Jalsa Salana Canada. He participated in a press conference with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa and wrote that the “Khalifa of the Jamaat is a wise man”. Over the years, he published many articles about the Jamaat, the text of speeches by Huzooraa, Jalsa Salana Canada advertisements and press releases by Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Canada. Recently he was invited to meet Amir Jamaat Canada, Lal Khan Malik Sahib.
The Spanish language is taught in Jamia Ahmadiyya Canada and trips to Spanish language media outlets, radio stations, culture centres and restaurants are arranged for students learning Spanish in Sadisa and Khamisa classes. This is done to help them to improve their Spanish and understand Hispanic culture.