This article examines the shape of the pedagogical canon of Spanish degree courses in UK Higher Education institutions. After identifying briefly the current challenges to the sector, the article discusses the results of a data set relating to the academic year 2015/2016, before comparing them to data sets from the academic years 2006/2007 and 1998/1999. It will be shown that there is a demonstrable dissipation of any sense of a canonical core. The article concludes by suggesting that the shift away from a literary core towards a greater array of literary and cultural objects of study is part of the evolution of modern languages, and may be of benefit to the discipline.