The second Salinas Book Fair shows the depth of the Spanish language.

Spanish has been spoken in California since 1769 when Junipero Serra introduced it, and today is spoken by about 26 percent of Californians. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than in Spain – only Mexico has more. Some 600 million people in the world speak Spanish, commanding a purchasing power in the hundreds of billions.

This is according to Dr. Manuel Murrieta-Saldvar, author, poet, associate professor of Spanish and Literature at California State University-Stanislaus, and founder of Editorial Orbis Press, which publishes Spanish-language academic and literary works.

“Alvar Núñez was the first to speak Spanish [in the New World],” Murrieta-Saldvar writes in an email. “In 1528-1536 he was shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico [and] walked for about 10 years throughout the American Southwest, from Florida to Arizona, as he narrated his experiences in his book, Naufragios.”

And yet, there is resentment in some quarters against the Spanish language.

“It is nothing new. We are used to it,” Murrieta-Saldvar says. He reasons that it’s a result of a false sense of nationalism, superiority and fear that comes and goes with the political tides. But he sees his mission as a witness and translator of stories of border people, immigrants and Latinos in the United States. He also wants to testify to the beauty, literature and history of the Spanish language.

He’ll do so this weekend as the featured author at the Salinas Book Fair, which was started last year by Adela Castillo, Jose Alejandro Moran (both from the talent showcase Noche Bohemia) and their team, inspired by the Ensenada International Book Fair.

They’ve got 14 authors lined up, who will get 15 minutes each to talk about their work and answer questions. One author, Mary Andrade, is coming from San Jose and was involved with the Pixar/Disney film Coco. They’ll have five performers, including Mariachi Juvenil Alisal and Aztec dancers. Poems and narrative excerpts will be read, books will be displayed, sold and signed, arts and crafts will occupy kids, and authors will be available for conversation. This kind of event is beneficial as a doorway into the Spanish language, but it’s also beneficial within Spanish-speaking communities.

“It is very valuable for any human being to know their origins, their collective struggles, their cultural practices,” Murrieta-Saldvar says. “This gives a sense of identity, an encounter with the roots, from which you can develop your potential to the maximum and contribute more to the society where you live.”

THE SALINAS BOOK FAIR is 10am-4pm Saturday, Sept. 22, at Cesar Chavez Library, 615 Williams Road, Salinas. Free. 758-7345, salinaspubliclibrary.org