**REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1198235**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND**
**UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
**FOR**
## **THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
Azets Audit Services Chartered Accountant Titanium 1 King's Inch Place Renfrew Glasgow PA4 8WF
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|**Report of the Trustees**|1|
|**Independent Examiner's Report**|28|
|**Statement of Financial Activities**|29|
|**Balance Sheet**|30|
|**Notes to the Financial Statements**|31 to 34|
|**Detailed Statement of Financial Activities**|35|
## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From 1 January 2024 Period start date To 31 December 2024 Period end date**
**Charity name: Bulletin of Spanish Studies**
## **Charity registration number: 1198235**
## **Objectives and Activities**
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the
purposes of the charity
as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|The objects [also known as ‘purposes’]
of the charity, Bulletin of Spanish
Studies, as set down in its
‘Declaration of Trust’ [which is its
governing document], dated 22 May
2013, are:
To advance the education of the
public by promoting understanding
worldwide of the literatures,
languages, cultures and histories of
Spain, Portugal and Latin America
through:
1. The editing, researching and
publishing of scholarly articles,
reviews and books in the field of
Hispanic Studies (i.e. Studies
concerning Spain, Portugal & Latin
America); and
2. Subject to 1 above, supporting [to
the degree that the charity’s funds
allow] scholarships, fellowships,
researches, lectures and [fixed-term]
teaching and research posts in the
field of Hispanic Studies within the
Bulletin of Spanish Studies' host
universities and at other UK higher
or further educational institutions.|
1
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to
those purposes for the
public benefit, in
particular, the activities,
projects or services
identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17
and 1.19|The Bulletin of Spanish StudiesTrust
continued to promote, for the public
good worldwide, better and deeper
understanding of the literatures,
languages, cultures and histories of
Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
The trustees carried out the charity’s
stated objectives principally through
the editing and publishing of its two
international journals: the Bulletin of
Spanish Studies (BSS, founded 1923)
and the Bulletin of Spanish Visual
Studies (BSVS, founded 2017).
Together, the journals produce 12
issues annually. In their normal (also
known as ‘general’) issues they
include original scholarly articles and
book reviews. They also publish every
year a proportion of double, special or
monographic numbers. Occasionally,
they bring out full-length studies,
editions or reference works. Whatever
the length or make-up of the
individual issues published, their
contents have always been peer-
assessed internally and externally by
specialists in appropriate fields of
Spanish, Portuguese and Latin-
American Studies.
So far as its financial resources allow,
the trust also funds or underpins
postgraduate scholarships or
fellowships, to support individual,
especially early-career, scholars at
UK universities; and it may finance,
e.g., special lectures and symposia in
the Hispanic field.
Among the trust’s future projects, is
the creation of a Bulletin of Spanish
Studies website, to house, inter alia,
once digitised, the Archive of Papers
of importance to the History of the
Bulletin of Spanish Studies since
1923 — the year its activities and
publications in Hispanic Studies
began.|
|---|---|---|
2
In the calendar year 2024, the trustees and senior editors (with their associate and assistant editors) completed a total of 12 peer-assessed journal issues, to be delivered by their publishers, Taylor & Francis, Informa, to universities and libraries worldwide. These 12 numbers are made up of 10 issues of the Bulletin of Spanish Studies and 2 issues of the Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies. The issues for 2024, which have been made available, online and in print, to scholars, students and other readers of the journals globally, contain original articles. There are 2 double Special Issues, and the remaining 8 general issues also have book reviews of recently published monographs, scholarly editions, collected studies or reference works in the Hispanic field. What follows selects from and describes the articles, book reviews etc. that have appeared in the trust’s journals BSS and BSVS for calendar year 2024: **Journal: Bulletin of Spanish Studies (founded 1923):** For calendar year 2024, the BSS edited and published six peerassessed general issues, and a further two Double Special Issues. The original articles and book reviews published in 2024, in its six general issues, deal with authors and artists, works, genres and topics that reflect the broad scope and objectives of the BSS within the Hispanic field, and concern periods of interest that range from the Middle Ages through to the twenty-first century. Some articles, therefore, deal with medieval or early modern (GoldenAge) Spanish literature, culture and history. Articles published in 2024 which deal with the medieval or early modern
3
period in Spain and Portugal, or concern colonial Latin America, have included: ‘Ekphrastic Allusions to Fredrick II in the _Libro de Alexandre_ , by Robert Fritz ( _Murray State University, Kentucky_ ). ‘ _La vida de San Pedro Nolasco_ de Lope de Vega: un modelo de santidad a través de la hibridación genérica’, by Elena Peña Argüeso ( _University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill_ ). ‘La vida de una pieza teatral entre la pluma y las tablas: unas calas en el manuscrito del _Auto del Sacratísimo Nacimiento de Cristo_ ’, by Valeria Marrella ( _Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia_ ). Articles in the BSS (2024) on modern or contemporary Spanish and LatinAmerican topics discuss, inter alia: ‘Queerfeminist Strategies for the Reconstruction of Spanish Memories of the Civil War and Franco’s Dictatorship in _El cuarto de atrás_ (1978) and _Cartas as María_ (2015)’, by Orianna Calderón-Sandoval & Adelina Sánchez-Espinosa ( _Universidad de Granada_ ). ‘On the Originality of the _Procedimiento: Avant-Garde_ Invention and Inhuman Professionalism in César Aira’s _Un episodio en la vida del pintor viajero_ ’, by Matt Johnson ( _New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology_ ). ‘Yzur, golem, Prometeo: el antropoide textual en Leopoldo Lugones’, by Juan Pablo Rodríguez Argente del Castillo ( _University of Washington_ ). ‘Ante las escrituras de autoras latinoamericanas: un acercamiento a
4
la impureza como lente de lectura’, by Sofía Forchieri ( _Radboud Universiteit Nijmegan_ ). The book reviews published in the BSS in 2024 cover a wide range and diversity of topics and authors, including books on: Jewish (Sephardic) life in Medieval Spain; Gender Studies; monographic works on individual authors; works dealing with Latin-American and Peninsular film, poetry, theatre and art. Some examples of the books reviewed are as follows: Andrés de Claramonte, _The Valiant Black Man in Flanders/El valiente negro en Flandes_ , coordinated by Baltasar Fra-Molinero, translated by Nelson López and edited by Manuel Olmedo Gobante; Mary E. Barnard, _A Poetry of Things: The Material Lyric in Habsburg Spain_ ; Nicholas Wolters, _Masculine Figures: Fashioning Men & the Novel in Nineteenth-CenturySpain_ ; _Jewish Imaginaries of the Spanish Civil War: In Search of Poetic Justice_ , edited by Cynthia Gabbay; _The Conquest of Mexico: 500 Years of Reinventions_ , edited by Peter B. Villella and Pablo García Loaeza; Brian J. Burke, _Social Exchange: Barter As Economic and Cultural Activism in Medellín, Columbia_ ; and _Afectos y violencias en la cultura latinoamericana_ , edited by Reindert Dhondt, Silvaba Mandolessi and Martín Zícari. In 2024, two Special Double Issues were edited and published by the Bulletin of Spanish Studies. The first is titled: ‘Censura gubernamental and la España del siglo XVIII (1769–1808)’, guest-edited by Elena de Lorenzo Álvarez ( _Universidad de Oviedo_ ) and
5
Gabriel Sánchez Espinosa ( _Queen’s University Belfast_ ). The second Double Issue published in 2024 is titled: ‘Heads and Tails of the Monarch: Representing Kings and Queens in Iberian Cultures, 1975–2020’, guest edited by Antonio Córdoba ( _Manhattan College_ ), Daniel GarcíaDonoso ( _Catholic University of America, Washington D.C./ Universidad de Málaga_ ) and Carlos Varón González ( _University of California at Riverside_ ). **Journal: Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies (founded 2017):** In 2024, the twice-yearly Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies published two general issues. Contributions to the general issue (BSVS, VIII:1 [2024]) include, inter alia, articles on: Television in Spain and Latin America; the use of film and documentary by the Francoist regime for ideological ends; and an example of the cutting-edge genre of the Video Essay, which is attracting widespread interest as a new format that includes links to video clips of the films analysed. Contributing scholars are from Spain, the USA, the UK and from other European and Latin-American countries. Contributions to the other general issue (BSVS, VIII:2 [2024]) deal, inter alia, with articles on: Luis Buñuel’s films; the use of photography in Spanish cinema (with particular reference to Pedro Almodóvar); depictions of Renaissance architecture in Spain; and the role of personal photography in the construction of collective memory (with specific reference to Spain
6
during the Transition). The authors come from universities across the USA, Canada, Spain and the UK. Recent books reviewed in the 2024 issues of BSVS, by specialists based at universities in the UK, USA, France and Spain, include: _Legacies of the Past: Memory and Trauma in Mexican Visual and Screen Studies_ , edited by Miriam Haddu and Niamh Thornton; Paul R. Merchant, _Remaking Home: Domestic Spaces in Argentine and Chilean Film 2005– 2015_ ; María Chiara d’Argenio, _Indigenous Plots in Twenty-First Century Latin American Cinema_ ; Guilherme Carréra, _Brazilian Cinema and the Aesthetics of Ruins_ ; and Aaron M. Hyman, _Rubens in Repeat: The Logic of the Copy in Colonial Latin America_ . **The annual James Whiston Memorial Prize** Set up in memory of a previous General Editor of the BSS, the annual James Whiston Memorial Prize is funded by the journals’ publishers Taylor & Francis, Informa, UK. The prize of £1,000 is awarded each year for the best article accepted to appear in the BSS or BSVS on the recommendation of a sub-committee of the Editorial Team of the BSS and BSVS, assisted by confidential reports from external specialist peerassessors. In 2024, the James Whiston Prize was awarded to Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado (Washington University in St Louis) for his article ‘Endless Proliferations of Signifiers: Mexican Cultural Studies in the Future Tense’. It is gratifying that this article was published in _The Bulletin of Spanish Studies 1923– 2023. A Centenary Number_ , ed. the Editorial Team of the _Bulletin of Spanish Studies_ , C:9–10 (2023), 1665–87. One of the BSS’s Assistant Editors interviewed the recipient of
7
|||the James Whiston Prize 2024,
recording a podcast of the interview
which was shared across many
platforms for full impact and
dissemination.
The trust’s postgraduate award titled
‘The Bulletin of Spanish Studies
William C. Atkinson Postgraduate
Scholarship’ is awarded annually.
This scholarship is mainly funded
through the generosity of the
publishers of the trust’s 2 journals
(Taylor & Francis, Informa, UK).
Since 2023 the award (£5,000 p.a.)
from the publishers has been topped
up annually by the trust from its own
funds to providean additional £1,000
(i.e., to make the scholarship worth
£6,000 p.a.). The additional £1,000 is
to assist recipients with travel
expenses in order to facilitate their
research in libraries in the UK,or, as
appropriate, in Spain, Portugal or
Latin America. The scholarship was
awarded in2024 toIsabel Buckleyby
Queen’s University Belfast and
enabled the recipient to complete a
one-year postgraduate Master’s
(MRes) degree (supervised by
ProfessorSarah Bowskill), for which
she successfully completed a thesis
titled ‘Latin American women authors
and the narconovela: a case study of
Orfa Alarcón’s_Perra brava_, Paula
Castiglioni’s_Pistoleros_and Iris
García Cuevas’_36 toneladas_’.|
|---|---|---|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees
have had regard to the
guidance issued by the|Para 1.18|The trustees confirm that all the
actions and publications completed by
the Bulletin of Spanish Studies Trust
in the calendar year 2024 were
relevant to its objectives as stated in
its governingdocument, and are in
conformity with the guidance of the|
8
|Charity Commission on
public benefit||Charity Commission on public
benefit.
These objectives have been carried
out through the charity’s two
journals, and the support given by the
trust for both postgraduate study and
research (including early-career
research) through the funding the
trust provides. Everything that the
trustees have done has contributed to
advancing the knowledge of the
languages, literatures, histories and
cultures of Spain, Portugal and Latin
America. The readership is
international, so these benefits have a
global impact.
Many Hispanists in the UK and
elsewhere, whether established, mid-
stream or early-career academics,
have published their studies or book
reviews in the Bulletin of Spanish
Studies and the Bulletin of Spanish
Visual Studies. In so doing, these
authors have deepened public
understanding of their chosen topics
and areas of Hispanic Studies. In the
process, many have been enabled to
advance their chosen professions, as
teachers, educators and scholars
specialising in the languages,
literatures, histories and cultures of
Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
Through the articles, reviews and
longer studies published in its two
journals, the charity has not only
advanced the careers of the individual
scholars and the early career of
postgraduate Hispanists whose work
has appeared in the BSS & BSVS, but
has stimulated and developed in the
journals’ readers (whether fellow
academics or members of the public),
nationally and globally, a deeper
interest and understanding of the
Hispanic World (of Spain, Portugal
and Latin America) — past, present
and future.|
|---|---|---|
9
It should be duly recorded that the contents of the trust’s journals are internationally available, free of charge, to individual academics and students and to members of the wider interested public by means of their university libraries or major national libraries and archives. This availability has been achieved in the UK thanks to the British Library and major university libraries such as in Oxford, Cambridge, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast. But, access to the trust’s journals is also facilitated through many university and national libraries beyond the UK and Ireland: in Spain, Portugal and the rest of Europe; in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in South America, parts of Africa and Asia; in the USA and Canada; and, indeed, in Australia, New Zealand and many other countries where the languages, literatures, histories and civilisations of the Iberian World are studied and appreciated.
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|**–**|
|Policy on social
investment including
program related
investment|Para 1.38|**–**|
|Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|**–**|
10
Other **–**
## **Achievements and Performance**
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the
main achievements
of the charity,
identifying the
difference the
charity’s work has
made to the
circumstances of
its beneficiaries
and any wider
benefits to society
as a whole.|Para 1.20|As detailed above, the achievements of the
Bulletin of Spanish Studies Charitable Trust
in 2024 were mainly brought about through
the successful editing, preparing and
publishing of the trust’s scholarly journals.
The contents of the 101st(2024) volume of
the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, in the form
of 10 issues, or equivalent, and of the 8th
volume (2024) in 2 issues of the Bulletin of
Spanish Visual Studies, were made available
to their global readership both online and in
print. The journals’ readership, national and
international, consists principally of scholars
and teachers professionally engaged in
research and in the teaching or supervising
of senior and postgraduate students in
Hispanic Studies — i.e., in the languages,
literatures, cultures, histories and
civilizations of Spain, Portugal and the many
countries of Latin America.
There is, too, an appreciative and growing
body of global readers consisting of
academics engaged in comparative and
related fields of research and teaching—
such as in studying the languages, cultures,
histories and literatures of other European
countries—especially Italy and France—
whose native or main languages share the
same Romance origins as Spanish,
Portuguese, Galician and Catalan.
The Bulletin of Spanish Studies Charitable
Trust in 2024 has also fulfilled its mission to
further knowledge of the civilizations of
Spain, Portugal and the many countries of|
11
Latin America through the awards of the James Whiston Memorial Prize and The Bulletin of Spanish Studies William C. Atkinson Postgraduate Scholarship — both funded thanks to initiatives for which the Bulletin of Spanish Studies Trust was responsible. All of these achievements have already been described above in detail. Moreover, the contents of the journals are proving of higher or further educational value to certain sections of the interested public at large, not only in the UK and Europe, but in South America, North America and in the wider world. The performance of the charity’s Hispanic Studies journals in 2024 can be measured by their extensive readership throughout the world, and by the frequency (as documented by their publishers) with which their articles, reviews and longer studies are not only accessed for consultation, but are downloaded in their entirety, to enable users to scrutinise them at will and in depth. According to the data so far available, the number of times that BSS and BSVS articles published online have been downloaded in 2024 has exceeded the number of downloads of BSS and BSVS articles that took place in 2023. For instance: in 2024, the number of downloads for the BSS was 55,983 (compare, for BSS in 2023, 48,885); for the BSVS the number of downloads in 2024 was 8,116, up from 6,968 in 2023. The most downloads tend to come from universities and institutions based in the USA, the United Kingdom and Spain. Precise figures for the number of downloads, citations and altmetrics achieved each year for all articles published in the trust’s journals are kept on record by the publishers, are updated each year and are available to the public on their website. For this and additional information, see https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/cbhs20 and https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rbhv20 The trustees are always concerned not only to improve their policies but to introduce
12
new measures, so as to increase the number of readers of their journals within further and higher education and among the general public. A good example of the trustees’ more recent innovations is in the use of podcasts —in order to capture a wider audience through broadcasting. Via the Apple Podcasts and Spotify platforms, interviews have been conducted with recent scholars in Hispanic Studies who have been awarded the trust’s annual James Whiston Memorial Prize for the best article published in the trust’s journals. During the interviews, recipients of the prize have had the opportunity, if they wish, to outline their future plans for research and for advancing their careers in the fields of Spanish, Portuguese or Latin American Studies. The journals’ use of Twitter (now known as X) is proving a successful additional means of reaching out globally and engaging not only with scholars and students of Hispanic Studies, but also with members of the general public. The journals’ editors also use Twitter/X to publicise the articles issued and the books reviewed in the BSS and BSVS, and to draw attention to any upcoming events concerned with Iberia or Latin America — like exhibitions and the screenings of Iberian or Latin American films that might well be of broader public interest. As regards the wider benefits that society as a whole can derive from the Bulletin of Spanish Studies: these come, too, through the (senior) schools, colleges and universities where students and their teachers, supervisors and professors have been enabled to improve their learning, so the former can complete their qualifications or degrees, and the latter can pursue their professions within secondary and higher education in the UK, and far beyond. For, many contributors to the trust’s journals, and many of their readers, are not only studying and working in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but also in Spain and the rest of Europe, in North and
13
South America, and indeed in other parts and continents worldwide.
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41||
|---|---|---|
|Performance of
fundraising activities
against objectives set|Para 1.41||
|Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41||
|Other|||
## **Financial Review**
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the
end of the period|Para 1.21|TheBulletin of Spanish Studies
trust’sprincipal source of income
comes from the guaranteed royalties
and editorial expenses received
annually, mostly in advance, from
Taylor & Francis, Informa, the
publishers of the trust’s two academic
journals (Bulletin of Spanish Studies
(BSS, founded 1923), and the Bulletin
of Spanish Visual Studies (BSVS,
founded 2017). At the end of each
calendar year, the trust receives from
the publishers any additional
income/balance of royalties due in
respect of that year. While the|
|---|---|---|
14
balance of royalties/additional income received yearly from Taylor & Francis, Informa varies, that balance of royalties amount has always produced an additional substantial figure, and it has proved to be so again for 2024. The precise balance of royalties figure for **2024** is given here: **£32,400.68** To assist the trust in carrying out its higher education objectives in Hispanic Studies, the publishers are also committed to donating each year in advance the sum of £5,000, to support the costs of the ‘Bulletin of Spanish Studies William C. Atkinson Postgraduate Scholarship in Hispanic Studies’, awarded annually by the charity. These costs have recently been increased to £6,000; and the trust itself donates from its own reserves the additional £1,000 p.a. provided. The journals’ publishers are also committed to funding the charity’s James Whiston Memorial Prize (£1,000) awarded each year to the author of the best article accepted for publication by the trust’s journals. Income from other sources comes in from time to time: e.g., as subventions from universities or other institutions or funding bodies, to assist with the costs of publishing special issues in the trust’s journals. Such special numbers can involve extra expenses: e.g., fees payable when certain articles need to feature copyrighted illustrations. Publication subventions, while welcomed, rarely amount to more than £2,000; and, in some years — as happened in 2024 — no such subventions are received. The trust benefits from a secure and long-standing Publishing Agreement with Taylor & Francis, Informa, which guarantees agreed amounts of annual royalties and editorial
15
expenses in advance, and so ensures that the trust’s financial position is stable going forward. The trustees are as confident as they can be that the charity’s financial status will continue to be secure in the long term. The trustees are not complacent. They are aware that the bulk of the charity’s income per annum is expended to cover the annual salary costs of its now five members of staff (reduced from six, following the retirement in October 2024 of our longstanding Principal Senior Associate Editor Ceri Byrne. Although now retired, Ceri Byrne, still a trustee and principal research fellow, continues to assist the journals pro bono. All the staff are involved academically, editorially and/or administratively in the unremitting work, year on year, of preparing for press the 12 issues of the trust’s two journals. For all of calendar year 2024, two of the charity’s five paid staff have continued to be employed part-time on its behalf by Queen’s University Belfast. The other three staff (2 fulltime; 1 part-time) were directly employed by the trust throughout calendar year 2024. Three of the five staff held Ac. [Academic] posts that were on an incremental scale—as agreed for equivalent posts in UK higher education institutions. Their salaries, therefore, also attracted agreed percentage increases per annum. Ceri Byrne’s retirement will significantly reduce the trust’s annual output in salary costs going forward. Nevertheless, given inflation, increased NI costs and other factors, the overall salary costs of the trust’s paid staff will continue to consume a substantial amount of the trust’s income year on year.
16
As notified in advance to the Charity Commission in the Report of the trustees for the last calendar year (2023), in 2024 the trustees met with the publishers of its journals for discussions and are scheduled to do so again in late 2025. It is pleasing to report that these discussions are proving favourable to the interests of the trust and its journals. A substantial increase in guaranteed advance income (royalties and editorial expenses) has been agreed with the journals’ publishers, to take full effect from calendar year 2026. Taylor & Francis, Informa have agreed to this increase partly because of the larger number, but also the high quality, of the original articles, reviews and longer works published through the BSS and BSVS during the past five years. This increased output has produced an overall expansion in usage and readership figures, thereby justifying a larger amount from the publishers in guaranteed annual income for the trust’s journals. Like all publishers of academic journals in the UK and beyond, Taylor & Francis has been moving away from the traditional system based on the annual pre-payment of standalone subscriptions received in advance from their institutional customers. Major revenue has come in recent years from advance institutional ‘sales packages’ whereby [mainly university] library customers purchase, for a discount, a whole portfolio of different journals from the publisher. Responding to funder and governmental mandates for research to be available on an ‘Open Access’ basis, a number of major customer
17
agreements have been signed between publishers and institutions for ‘Read and Publish’ arrangements, whereby faculty staff at those institutions involved can ‘publish’ their articles in journals on an ‘open access’ basis, while their institutions get full ‘read’ access to the journals’ content. These agreements between publishers and institutions are growing in number, with most of the revenue attributed to each journal linked to payment charges (APCs), with only around 10% of the sales money being attributed to the ‘read’ access element. Residual standalone subscriptions do remain significant in the case of the trust’s journals, but their overall numbers are declining year on year. Sales reports from the publishers show that the quantity of Open Access articles in the trust’s two Hispanic Studies journals (BSS and BSVS) is increasing. Overall, the two journals are well placed to maintain or grow their income, even within the difficult context of increased government and funder intervention in the academic journals’ ‘ecosystem’. In the 2023 Report to the Charity Commission, it was noted that Mrs Ceri Byrne had retired — earlier than expected — from her full-time senior post, held on behalf of the trust, at Queens University Belfast on 30 September 2023. She was reemployed directly by the trust from 1 October 2023 on a 0.6 FTE post, which from 1 January 2024 was reduced to a 0.4 FTE. Mrs Byrne retired completely on 31 October 2024. Her retirement has reduced salary costs for the trust even though Dr John McCulloch’s parttime contract became full-time from 1 January 2024. The overlap in the employment of Mrs Ceri Byrne and Dr John McCulloch was necessary because the wide-ranging senior role
18
they shared for an agreed period needed the continued expertise of Mrs Byrne to enable a smooth transition. The trust’s overall salary costs became considerably lower from 31 October 2024, not least because Dr McCulloch’s 1 FTE is on a lower grade and scale point than Mrs Byrne’s post was. However, the salary costs of the trust’s paid staff still make by far the largest demands upon the trust’s annual income and on any reserves. At the start of calendar year 2024 the reserves in the trust’s Halifax bank account were **£62,795.33** . These reserves include the ring-fenced amount of **£48,604** in the E. Allison Peers Endowment Fund (NB. the history of this Endowment Fund was fully explained in the trust’s first report to the Commission — that for calendar year 2022). This amount of **£62,795.33** represents a significant but planned for reduction in the trust’s reserves since the beginning of the previous calendar year 2023, the reason for which has been explained above. The Bulletin of Spanish Studies’ own income and expenditure statements for the calendar year **2024** show that the charity’s expenditure has exceeded its income by **£77,579.97** . In the previous calendar year **2023** , because of specific staffing-related causes, as explained above, the deficit between income and expenditure was larger: **£92,081.22** . So, as intended, the trust’s planned-for deficit was significantly reduced by the end of calendar year 2024. Further measures are currently ongoing to eradicate the deficit entirely within the next two or three years. In summary, the trustees can report that on 31 December 2024, the credit balance shown in the trust’s, by then,
19
|||CAF account for the calendar year
2024 was**£10,470.09.**|
|---|---|---|
|Statement explaining
the policy for holding
reserves stating why
they are held|Para 1.22|In the interest of protecting the
stability and future of the trust, its
journals, and the causes it supports
(scholarships, prizes etc.) within
Hispanic Studies, the trustees will
always endeavour to retain in the
trust’s bank account a proportion of
its reserves — perhaps a third of its
overall surplus in any calendar year
— to draw on as may be necessary.
The trustees will keep under regular
review the trust’s reserves, the use
made of them and how best to
maximise the benefits derived from
them.They will take the advice of the
trust’s financial advisers, so that
these reserves continue to be utilised
in the best interests of the trust’s
higher and further educational
objectives, nationally and globally, in
accord with its governing document.
As advised by the Charity
Commission, at the time of the
charity’s registration as such, the
trustees are pleased to confirm that
they have opened an account in the
name of the Bulletin of Spanish
Studies trust. That account is held
with the**CAF (Charities Aid**
**Foundation) Bank**. As is not
unusual, the CAF Bank took several
months to consider the trust’s
application for an account, and so the
process was not completed until
nearly the end of 2024. Once the
Bulletin of Spanish Studies Trust had
an account with CAF that was fully
operational in the name of the trust,
the former Halifax account was closed
in January 2025, and the remaining
funds have been transferred to the
CAF account.
The trustees are not yet in a position
to invest any reserves at end of 2024.
In due course, they propose to take
advice from the trust’s accountants,
with a view to investing at low risk a|
20
|||sensible proportion of its reserves
within the UK. When the trust’s
finances allow, the trustees would
propose to use some of its reserves,
and the interest obtained from any
investments made, together with any
sums donated or bequeathed for such
a purpose, to help fund a proposed
doctoral scholarship or fellowship in
Hispanic Studies, in memory of the
trust’s previous long-serving
chairman, Sir Graeme Davies, who
was Vice-Chancellor of no fewer than
three UK universities (Liverpool,
Glasgow and London). His extended
service to higher education in the UK
and beyond is a matter of national
and international record.|
|---|---|---|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|**£10,470.09.**|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|N/A|
|Details of fund
materially in deficit|Para 1.24|N/A|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a
going concern|Para 1.23|The trust’s long-standing Publishing
Agreement with the publishers of its
journals, Taylor & Francis, Informa,
which is very favourable and in its
best interests, does not come up for
renewal until 2028. The trust obtains
almost all of its annual income as a
result of the terms set down in this
Publishing Agreement. The trust’s
financial stability is underpinned by
the fact that most of that income
comes to the trust in the form of
contractually guaranteed royalties
and editorial expenses paid yearly in
advance. Because of the security
which this Publishing Agreement
provides, the trustees have no
uncertainties about the charity’s
continuation as a going concern, both
in the short term and in the longer
future.
As stated above, in October 2024 the
trustees succeeded in renegotiating|
21
the terms of the Publishing Contract it holds with its journals’ publishers, so as to significantly increase the annual guaranteed advance editorial expenses and the expected overall annual royalties to be received. The good effects of these increased terms will be effective in full from calendar year 2026. These recently secured terms, guaranteeing increased annual income for the trust going forward further strengthens the confidence of the trustees in the underlying financial stability of the trust and therefore in its ability, now and in the future, to carry out the objectives it pursues to further the higher education charitable causes it supports.
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds
(including any
fundraising)|Para 1.47|As stated above, the charity’s
principal sources of funds come from
the trust’s publishers. These funds
are received in the form of guaranteed
royalties and editorial expenses paid
annually and mostly in advance, to
enable the editing and production of
the trust’s two research journals in
Hispanic Studies, the Bulletin of
Spanish Studies and the Bulletin of
Spanish Visual Studies. The
guaranteed financial terms are legally
binding and precisely laid down in the
charity’s long-term Publishing
Agreement signed with Taylor and
Francis, Informa on 26 June 2019, the
terms of which were substantially
improved upon in late 2024 as a
result of the Publisher’s Taylor &
Francis’ considerable satisfaction
with the trust’s journals – their
international standing and the high
academic quality of their articles and
other contents. The improved
financial terms have been set down in
a codicil to the existing Publishing|
|---|---|---|
22
|||Agreement signed on 20 December
2024 by both parties. This codicil is
available for inspection by the
Charity Commission as may be
required.|
|---|---|---|
|Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|N/A|
|A description of the
principal risks facing the
charity|Para 1.46|N/A|
|Other||N/A|
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing
document
(trust deed, royal
charter)|Para 1.25|The governing document of the
Bulletin of Spanish Studies is the
Declaration of Trust, which was
drawn up (as stated in the document)
by the trust’s then legal advisers
Pinsent Masons, London, and was
signed on 22 May 2013.|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Unincorporated Association, as
detailed in the charity’s Declaration
of Trust document (i.e., its governing
document), 22 May 2013.|
|Trustee selection
methods including
details of any
constitutional provisions
e.g. election to post or
name of any person or
body entitled to appoint
one or more trustees|Para 1.25|The trustee selection methods are as
set down in the trust’s Declaration of
Trust document, 22 May 2013,
especially: pages 3-4, para 9,
Appointment of trustees, including
9.1: there must be at least three
trustees and every trustee must be
appointed by a resolution of the
trustees passed at a special meeting;
9.2: in selecting individuals for
appointment as trustees, the trustees
must have regard to the skills,|
23
knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity; also para 10, Eligibility for trusteeship; and para 11, Termination of trusteeship.
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||Policies and procedures||Para 1.51|N/A||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||adopted for the induction|||||
||and training of trustees|||||
||The charity’s||Para 1.51|N/A||
||organisational structure|||||
||and any wider network|||||
||with which the charity|||||
||works|||||
||Relationship with any||Para 1.51|N/A||
||related parties|||||
||Other|||||
|**Reference and Administrative details**||||||
||Charity name||Bulletin of Spanish Studies|||
||Other name the charity||The Bulletin of Spanish Studies Charitable Trust|||
||uses|||||
||Registered charity||1198235|||
||number|||||
||Charity’s principal||School of Arts, English & Languages,|||
||address||Queen’s University of Belfast|||
||||11 University Square|||
||||Belfast|||
||||BT7 1NN|||
**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not**
**for whole year**|**Name of person (or**
**body) entitled to**
**appoint trustee (if any)**|
|---|---|---|---|
24
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20|David P. Green|Chair|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Ann L.
Mackenzie|–|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||Ceri A. Byrne|–|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||John A.
McCulloch|–|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||Isabel M. B.
Torres|–|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||Joanna M.
Evans|–|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||C. Alex
Longhurst|–|–|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||Sarah J.
Beaumont|_|From 29 October 2024|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||Mark Toma|_|From 29 October 2024|Board of Trustees of the
Bulletin of Spanish
Studies|
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved
**Director name** N/A
25
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
|**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**||
|---|---|---|
|N/A|||
||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**
|Description of the assets
held in this capacity|N/A|
|---|---|
|Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf
the assets are held and
how this falls within the
custodian charity’s
objects|N/A|
|Details of arrangements
for safe custody and
segregation of such
assets from the charity’s
own assets|N/A|
## **Additional information (optional)**
26
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of Name Address adviser**
**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**
Chair of the Board of Trustees: Dr David Green (trustee)
## **Exemptions from disclosure**
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
N/A
## **Other optional information**
N/A
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** Dr John McCulloch **Position (eg** Trustee and Research Fellow **Secretary, Chair, etc)** & Senior Associate Editor **Date** 14.11.2025
27
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of The Bulletin of Spanish Studies**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Bulletin of Spanish Studies (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2024.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under Section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by Section 130 of the Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
William Vernall
Azets Audit Services Chartered Accountant Titanium 1 King's Inch Place Renfrew Glasgow PA4 8WF
Date: 15/12/25
Page 28
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|2024
Unrestricted
funds
Notes
£
**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
2
181,257
Investment income
3
9
**Total**
181,266
**EXPENDITURE ON**
**Charitable activities**
4
Charitable activities
254,887
**NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**
(73,621)
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
Total funds brought forward
58,844
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**
(14,777)|2023
Total
funds
£
188,861
-
188,861
266,528
(77,667)
136,511
58,844|
|---|---|
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 29
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **BALANCE SHEET 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|2024
Unrestricted
funds
Notes
£
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Debtors
7
218,831
Cash at bank and in hand
11,075
229,906
**CREDITORS**
Amounts falling due within one year
8
(244,683)
**NET CURRENT ASSETS/(LIABILITIES)**
(14,777)
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT**
**LIABILITIES**
(14,777)
**NET ASSETS/(LIABILITIES)**
(14,777)
**FUNDS**
9
Unrestricted funds
(14,777)
**TOTAL FUNDS**
(14,777)|2023
Total
funds
£
208,933
62,796
271,729
(212,885)
58,844
58,844
58,844
58,844
58,844|
|---|---|
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on ............................................. and were signed on its behalf by: 1.12.2025
Trustee
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 30
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Basis of preparing the financial statements**
The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
## **Income**
All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
## **Expenditure**
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.
## **Taxation**
The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.
Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
## **Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits**
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.
## **2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES**
|Royalties
Grants
Editorial expenses|2024
£
92,399
6,000
82,858
181,257|2023
£
97,503
8,500
82,858
188,861|
|---|---|---|
continued...
Page 31
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
## **3. INVESTMENT INCOME**
|Interest receivable
**4.**
**CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS**
Charitable activities|Grant
funding of
activities
£
12,112|2024
£
9
Support
costs
£
242,775|2023
£
-
Totals
£
254,887|
|---|---|---|---|
## **5. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS**
There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 December 2024 nor for the year ended 31 December 2023.
## **Trustees' expenses**
There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 December 2024 nor for the year ended 31 December 2023.
|**6.**|**COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**||
|---|---|---|
|||Unrestricted|
|||funds|
|||£|
||**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**||
||Donations and legacies|188,861|
||**EXPENDITURE ON**||
||**Charitable activities**||
||Charitable activities|266,528|
||**NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**|(77,667)|
||**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**||
||Total funds brought forward|136,511|
||**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|58,844|
continued...
Page 32
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
## **7. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
|Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
**8.**
**CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
Taxation and social security
Other creditors
**9.**
**MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**|2024
£
186,430
32,401
218,831
2024
£
11,994
232,689
244,683|2023
£
171,430
37,503
208,933
2023
£
5,410
207,475
212,885|
|---|---|---|
|At 1/1/24
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General Fund
4,240
Postgraduate Scholarship
6,000
E A Peers Research Endowment Fund
48,604
58,844
**TOTAL FUNDS**
58,844
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
**Unrestricted funds**
General Fund
Postgraduate Scholarship
James Whiston Memorial Prize
**TOTAL FUNDS**|Net
movement
in funds
£
(72,621)
(1,000)
-
(73,621)
(73,621)
Incoming
resources
£
175,266
5,000
1,000
181,266
181,266|Transfers
between
At
funds
31/12/24
£
£
(1,000)
(69,381)
1,000
6,000
-
48,604
-
(14,777)
-
(14,777)
Resources
Movement
expended
in funds
£
£
(247,887)
(72,621)
(6,000)
(1,000)
(1,000)
-
(254,887)
(73,621)
(254,887)
(73,621)|
|---|---|---|
continued...
Page 33
**THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
## **9. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued**
## **Comparatives for movement in funds**
|At 1/1/23
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General Fund
82,907
Postgraduate Scholarship
5,000
E A Peers Research Endowment Fund
48,604
136,511
**TOTAL FUNDS**
136,511
Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
resources
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General Fund
181,861
Postgraduate Scholarship
6,000
James Whiston Memorial Prize
1,000
188,861
**TOTAL FUNDS**
188,861|Net
movement
At
in funds
31/12/23
£
£
(78,667)
4,240
1,000
6,000
-
48,604
(77,667)
58,844
(77,667)
58,844
Resources
Movement
expended
in funds
£
£
(260,528)
(78,667)
(5,000)
1,000
(1,000)
-
(266,528)
(77,667)
(266,528)
(77,667)|
|---|---|
## **Transfers between funds**
During the year, £1,000 was transferred from the general fund to the Postgraduate Scholarship fund in respect of the element of the scholarship payment that was funded from the Trust's own reserves.
## **10. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES**
There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 December 2024.
Page 34
## **THE BULLETIN OF SPANISH STUDIES**
## **DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS**
**Donations and legacies**
Royalties
Grants
Editorial expenses
**Investment income**
Interest receivable
**Total incoming resources**
**EXPENDITURE**
**Charitable activities**
Grants and prizes
**Support costs**
**Management**
Wages
Pensions
Office expenses
Operational support
Subscriptions
Travel expenses
Postage and stationery
Honorarium
**Governance costs**
Accountancy fees
Total resources expended
**Net expenditure**|2024
£
92,399
6,000
82,858
181,257
9
181,266
12,112
201,079
20,232
2,608
11,110
446
832
785
3,083
240,175
2,600
254,887
(73,621)|2023
£
97,503
8,500
82,858
188,861
-
188,861
8,500
220,657
21,256
5,932
1,200
413
4,968
221
1,931
256,578
1,450
266,528
(77,667)|
|---|---|---|
This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements
Page 35