Menéndez Pelayo International University was created in 1932 by decree of the Second Spanish Republic, following a proposal by the Minister of Public Instruction, Fernando de los Ríos, under the name "International Summer University of Santander". Its headquarters were established at the Palacio de la Magdalena, which had been a summer residence for King Alfonso XIII from 1913 to 1930. The palace had originally been donated to the king by the Santander City Council. It first Rectors were the historian and philologistRamón Menéndez Pidal and the eminent physicist Blas Cabrera Felipe. The same decree named poet and professor Pedro Salinas as Secretary General to recognize his role in providing inspiration for the new University. During the summers from 1933 to 1936, many courses were developed, with an emphasis on Spanish language and literature. These courses were designed for foreigners who, since 1926, had been receiving instruction at the Menéndez Pelayo Society; and for postgraduates of the Medical Institute whose classes had formerly been located at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital.
Post-war re-establishment
These activities were interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and were not resumed until 1945, following the approval of an order that created the Menéndez Pelayo International University with headquarters in the Hospital of San Rafael in Santander. At the beginning of summer in 1949, the University returned to its former home in the Palacio de la Magdalena, courtesy of a grant from Don Juan de Borbón. Soon, given the increase in activity at the University, it became necessary to establish a campus at the Parque Atlántico de Las Llamas, also in Santander, with residential units as well as classrooms.
Years of growth
Since 1983, UIMP has extended its activities to seven other cities and has introduced shorter courses. Its stated objective is to satisfy two requirements that are equally desirable and indispensable to the formation of modern culture: attention to the universal human needs that must present themselves to every sensitive mind; and the skill to clarify carefully defined technical problems in a way that represents a positive advance in each discipline. Every year, the University has expanded it courses to reflect new developments in the social sciences and humanities, as well as technology, and has extended its cultural activities to include music, theater, poetry and the cinema. In 2008, UIMP developed agreements with other institutions to collaborate in the creation of a master's degree in the "Organization and Management of Industrial Technology". The following year, UIMP joined with the University of Cantabria in the Cantabria International Campus, which the Ministry of Education and Science declared to be a regional "Campus of International Excellence".
Since 1987, UIMP has sponsored and presented the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize, established under the patronage of Eulalio Ferrer, a Spanish-Mexican entrepreneur. The award is given to honor those in the literary or scientific communities whose work has humanistic value, in the tradition of the University's namesake, Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo. Citizens of any Spanish or Portuguese speaking country are eligible.
