Learn Spanish in Spain

Spain Information

0 days, the nationals of many countries do not require a visa. For travel between Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, there is normally no passport control on land frontiers, at ports or in airports, although spot checks are always possible.
If you are unsure about your visa requirements, please consult the Spanish Embassy or Consulate.

Money Matters

Currency: peseta

Traveller's Cheques
These protect your money because they can be replaced if they are lost or stolen. In Spain they can be cashed at the many banks and exchange offices, and usually attract a slightly higher exchange rate than cash. American Express and Thomas Cook are widely accepted brands with efficient replacement policies. Banks are only open during the mornings from 9.00 to 14.00 Monday to Friday

Credit Cards
You can use credit cards to pay for many purchases and to withdraw cash in pesetas from banks and automatic teller machines (ATMs). Many debit cards can also be used in this way if they have the visa or cirrus sign. Check with your bank before you leave.

N.B. Card purchases and cash advances are normally charged to your account via an exchange rate, which may be slightly worse than you'd be quoted for exchanging cash or travellers' cheques in Spain. Once you consider the commission on the exchange transaction you'll probably find that you usually win by using plastic, even taking into account the handling charge, usually about 1.5%, that's levied for cash advances (though not for direct purchases by credit card).

Geography

With exception of Switzerland Spain is the highest and most mountanious nation in Europe, with an average height of around 600m. Spain's domain covers a sphere of influence much wider than that of just the mainland. Bounded by the Pyrrenees to the North, the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera) to the South East, the Canary Islands to the South West and the tiny enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African mainland.

Europe's second biggest mountain range, the Pyrrenees, stretch from the Basque Country in the west to the Mediterranean Sea in the East. At times the peaks rise to over 1524m, the highest point being 3404m. The central area of Spain is covered by a vast plateau sporadically broken by several chains of Sierras. In the south the plateau drops abruptly at the Sierra Morena, beyond which lies the valley of Guadalquivir. Southeast of Granada is the Sierra Nevada, part of the Betic Cordillera, which runs parallel to the Mediterranean, rising to 3481m. The Mediterranean coastal area reaches from the French frontier in the northeast down to the Straits of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic and separating Spain from North Africa.

Climate

In general you can rely on pleasant or hot temperatures just about everywhere from April to early November. The temperatures normally range from 15°C to 35°C. In Andalucia there are plenty of warm, sunny days right through winter. However, in July and August, temperature inland can get unpleasant, unless you are high enough in the mountains.

Andalucia is very hot in high summer, when temperatures can rise to 35°C. In Madrid and Salamanca it is slightly cooler, although temperatures can climb above 30°C in July and August. The southeast, from the Costa Blanca to Cabo de Gata, is the most arid part of Spain, and can produce near-desert conditions in parts of Eastern Andalucia.

The Mediterranean provides Spain's warmest waters, which reach 27°C or so in August, and you can swim as early as April or even late March in the southeast.
The Mediterranean coast as a whole, and the Balearic Islands, get a little more rain than Madrid. Rain in most areas is heaviest from around October to April, though from year to year, rainfall is inconsistent to say the least.

Madrid and the Central region regularly freeze in December, January and February and snowfalls in the mountains start as early as October with some snow cover all year on the highest mountains. Weather in the high mountains is generally unreliable.

Culture

Flamenco
Some of the best Flamenco music and dance happens almost unadvertised in small bars, and so is hard to catch. Tourist offices will direct you towards tablaos, regular shows for a tourist audience with high-ish prices. Though not exactly spontaneous, some of these are still good. Otherwise, a few bars have regular performances of variable quality, and there are occasional one-off shows by famous artists in concert halls. Your best bet though, is to catch one of the summer Flamenco festivals. Flamenco is biggest in its traditional home, Andalucia, but is also strong in Cataluña (which has a large Andalucian population), Madrid and parts of the Extremadura.

Sports
Football: Spain's national sport is futbol. Around 300 000 spectators attend the games in the Primera Division (first division) every weekend from September to May, with millions more following on TV. Acres of space in the press and hours of men's bar talk are humorously dedicated to team selection. Spain suffers very little football hooliganism but Spaniards still take their favoured teams' fortunes very seriously. So it's wise to keep your emotions in check if you are in a bar where the TV is showing your country taking on Spain!
Other Sports Champions such as Miguel Indurain (cycling), Severiano Ballesteros and Jose-Maria Olazabal (golf), and Arantxa Sanchez or Conchita Martinez (tennis) have all inspired booming popularity in their sports.

The Bullfight
The corrida is a spectacle with a long history and many rules. It is not, as many would suggest, simply a ghoulish alternative to the slaughterhouse (itself no pretty sight). Aficionados will say that the bull is better off dying at the hands of a matador (killer) than in the matadoro (abattoir). The corrida is about many things -death, bravery and performance. There is no doubt that the fight is bloody and cruel and because of that the hackles will always rise. To witness the fight is not necessarily to understand it, but it might clue you in to some of the thought and tradition behind it. Although many Spaniards themselves consider it a cruel and 'uncivilised' activity (no one would call it a sport), there is no doubting its popularity. If a bar room TV is showing football on one channel and a corrida on another, the chances are that football fever will cede to the fascination of the fiesta.

Interesting Sites:

• To Learn Spanish visit: Cactus Language Courses
• El Casterllano: www.elcastellano.org
• BBC on Spain: www.bbc.co.uk/spanish

Food

Spaniards have their own timetable for eating so it's a good idea to reset your stomach clock, unless you want to eat alone or only with other tourists.

Breakfast: Most Spaniards start the day with a light breakfast (desayuno), perhaps coffee with a toasted roll (tostada) or a pastry (pastel). A favourite is churros con chocolate - long, deep-fried doughnuts, unique to Spain.
A tortilla (omelette) is a good option for a more substantial breakfast, though Spaniards also eat eggs at other times of the day. huevos fritos are fried eggs, huevos revueltos scrambled eggs, huevos pasados por agua will get you lightly boiled eggs, ask for huevos cocidos if you want hard-boiled eggs.

Lunch: This is usually the main meal of the day; it is eaten between about 1.30 and 4 p.m. and is known as almuerzo or comida. It can consist of several courses including soup or salad, meat or fish with vegetables or a rice dish or bean stew, followed by fruit, ice cream or flan (a kind of set egg custard).

Dinner: A Spaniard's evening meal, or cena, tends to be lighter, perhaps an egg dish with bread, and may be eaten as late as 10 or 11pm. However, lots of people also go out to a restaurant for a larger meal - though before about 9 p.m. you're unlikely to see anyone but foreigners doing this.

Between meals: It's common (and a great idea!) to go to a bar or a café for a snack. One great Spanish snack is a bocadillo, a long white bread roll filled with cheese or ham or salad or tortilla -the list goes on. You probably won't leave Spain without sampling a bocadillo de tortilla española or de jamon serrano, a roll filled, respectively, with potato omelette or cured ham.

Tapas: These saucer-sized mini-snacks are part of the Spanish way of life and come in infinite varieties. You can make a meal of tapas, or go on to a meal afterwards, or hop on to another bar to sample even more tapas, a great Spanish pastime. Tapas are generally consumed standing at the bar and accompanied by wine from the barrel or a beer. Tapas translates as 'lids'. Today's snacks supposedly originated in the sherry area of Andalucia last century when bar owners placed a piece of bread on top of a drink to keep away flies; this developed into the custom of putting a titbit, such as olives or a piece of sausage or ham, on a lid to cover the drink and something salty to encourage drinking. Today, tapas have almost become a cuisine of their own and each region and city has its specialities. Typical tapas include olives, slices of cured meat or cheese, potato salad, diced salad, bite-sized portions of fried fish, albondigas (meat or fish balls), chickpeas with spinach, rabbit stew, callos (tripe), gambas (prawns) in garlic, or boquerones (anchovies) marinated in vinegar or rebozados (fried in batter).

Public Holidays

Everywhere in Spain there are at least 14 official holidays a year - some observed nation-wide, some very local. When a holiday falls close to a weekend, Spaniards like to make a puente (bridge)- meaning they also take the intervening day off as well.

The eight national holidays are:

In addition, regional governments everywhere set four holidays and local councils a further two. Common dates include:

Shop Opening Hours: Generally shop opening hours are from 9.00 to 13.30 or 14.00 in the morning and from 16.30 or 17.00 to 20.00 in the afternoon.

Travel Safe Advice

Insurance

However you travel, it's worth taking out insurance. Standard insurance should at least cover theft and loss of luggage, and cancellation of, and delays in, your travel arrangements. Ticket loss is also covered by travel insurance, but make sure you keep a separate record of your ticket details. Contact us if you haven't already taken out a comprehensive policy.

Health

Before you travel you should always check with the Foreign Office as to the official view on the safety of the country you intend to visit.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH
Consular Division 020 7270 1500
General: 020 7238 4586
Travel Advice: 020 7238 4503/4
Visa enquiries: 020 7238 3838
Website Address: www.fco.gov.uk/travel

MASTA
For information on health issues and vaccinations we advise you to contact MASTA (Medical Advisory Services for Travellers Abroad)
Travellers' Health Line
Telephone: 0906 8 224100
Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT
Website Address: www.masta.org

What Shall I Take?

Apart from any special personal needs you may have and things you might require for a particular kind of trip i.e. camping gear, hiking boots, surfboard etc., you may like to consider the following:

· An under-the-clothes money belt or shoulder wallet
· Sunscreen lotion
· A small Spanish dictionary and/or phrase book.
· Photocopies of your important documents kept separate from the originals.
· A medical kit.
· A towel
· A padlock, or two, to secure yours luggage to racks.
· An adapter plug for electrical appliances.
· An Alarm Clock
· Sunglasses

Books

· The New Spaniards by John Hooper
· Homage to Barcelona by Colm Tóibín
· The Story of Spain by Mark Williams
· Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes
· Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
· Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway.
· Collins Gem Spanish Dictionary
· South from Granada by Gerald Brenan

Music

Totally Spanish Guitar (Various Artists)
The Best of Carlos Gardel
Music of the Spanish Renaissance (Anonymous composer)

Films

La Ardilla Roja
Jamon Jamon
Vacas
Tobo Sobre Mi Madre

Traductores Jurados - Traductores jurados oficiales de todos los idiomas acreditados por el MAE a precios muy competitivos.