There’s just something about Spain, some ineffable and intangible quality that draws people to its Iberian shores year after year. Maybe it’s the famously slow-paced and sybaritic lifestyle. Or perhaps it has to do with the warm temperatures and sunny weather. Some people love it because its cafés, food, and wine are among the best in the world. Most likely, though, it is some combination of all three-and then some.
Simply put, Spain is one of the single most alluring countries in the world, and whether you’re visiting for just a few days or planning on making it your study abroad destination for a summer, semester, or year, the benefits you’ll reap and the new ways in which you will see the world will enrich your life to an extent you never thought possible.
Popular Places to Study in Spain
Cities and Regions
- Alicante
- Bilbao
- Madrid
- Barcelona
- Ibiza
- Marbella
- San Sebastian
- Santander
- Seville
- Granada
- Salamanca
- Gibraltar
- Valencia
- Fuerteventura
About Spain
Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula, so not only does it have coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, but it borders with France and Portugal and is just a quick trip across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco. As a result, Spain has been a major player in the colonial endeavors of the European enterprise and has been greatly influenced by the invading armies of North Africa, particularly that of the Moors and their strongly Muslim culture.
Modern-day Spain is a fascinating country that holds tightly to its traditional ways of life while being very much a part of the culture and political life of greater Europe. One of the first things visitors notice is the relaxed pace at which life is lived in Spain. Everything, it seems, happens a little later and a little slower — especially when it comes to work schedules and meals.
“Many shops and some museums (though relatively few other businesses) still split their hours into two distinct periods of opening with a two or three hour break in the middle; a paseo (stroll) in the early evening remains a common custom in many smaller cities and to some extent even in the larger ones; the dinner hour is the latest in Europe, typically about 10 p.m.; nightlife begins accordingly late, with many dance clubs (even in relatively small cities) opening at midnight and staying open until dawn; in Madrid in the summer there is nothing unusual about a live musical performance being scheduled for one or two o’clock in the morning”. While there is often an adjustment period that visitors go through when it comes to adopting to the rhythms of Spanish life, they generally tend to find it much more appealing than the hustle-and-bustle with which they are familiar.
The cities, particularly Barcelona and Madrid, offer students all the opportunities of attending college in two of the greatest towns in the world, but without the exhausting pace that often goes along with living there. And in addition to the benefits of the cities themselves, the colleges and universities in Spain are excellent. From the Universitat de Barcelona to the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, Spain offers enough of a variety of top-tier schools to satisfy even the most demanding students.
And in the end, as always, Sir Elton’s lyrics are right on: Very few people visit Spain only once. There is just some intangible magnetism about it that keeps people coming back again and again. And after all, if it’s good enough for Elton, it’s certainly good enough for us. Who are we, after all, to argue with the Rocket Man?
Language Spoken in Spain
Unsurprisingly, the official and universal language used in Spain is Spanish (español, castellano), but it’s more complicated than that, as it differs in pronunciation and other details. It is part of the Romance family of languages (others include Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Italian, Occitan, French, and Romanian) and is one of the main branches of that family. It is more properly called Castilian (castellano).
However, there are a number of other local languages — Catalan, Basque, Galician, Asturian, etc — spoken in various parts of Spain. Some of these languages are dominant in their respective regions, and following their legalization in the 1978 constitution, they are co-official with Castilian. Apart from Basque (whose origins are still debated) the languages of the Iberian Peninsula are part of the Romance family and are fairly easy to pick up if you know Castilian well. Learning a few words in the local languages where you are traveling will help endear you to the locals.
- Catalan (Catalan: català, Castilian: catalán), is a distinct language similar to Castilian but more closely related to the Oc branch of the Romance Languages and is considered by many to be part of a Dialect Continuum spanning across Spain, France, and Italy and including the other Lengas d’òc such as Provençal, Beàrnais, Limousin, Auvernhat and Niçard. Various dialects are spoken in the northeastern region of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia (where it is often referred to as Valencià), east of Aragon, as well as neighboring Andorra and southern France. To a casual listener Catalan superficially appears to be a cross between Spanish and French, and though it does share features of both it is an independent language in it’s own right.
- Galician (Galician: galego, Castilian: gallego), very closely related to Portuguese, Galician is spoken in Galicia and the western portion of Asturias. Galician predates Portuguese and is deemed one of the four main dialects of the Galician-Portuguese family group which includes Brazilian, Southern Portuguese, Central Portuguese, and Galician.
- Basque (Basque: euskara, Castilian: vasco), a language unrelated to Castilian (or any other known language), is spoken in the three provinces of the Basque Country, on the two adjacent provinces on the French side of the Spain-French border, and in Navarre. Basque is unrelated to any Romance language or to any branch of the Indo-European or Indo-Iranian family of languages. It currently remains unclassified and is deemed a linguistic isolate seemingly unrelated to any branch of the linguistic family tree.
- Asturiano (Asturiano: asturianu, Castilian: asturiano, also known as bable), is spoken in the province of Asturias, where it enjoys semi-official protection. It was also spoken in rural parts of Leon, Zamora, Salamanca, in a few villages in Portugal (where it is called Mirandes) and in villages in the extreme north of Extremadura. While the constitution of Spain explicitly protects Basque, Balearic-Catalan-Valencian under the term Catalan, Galician, and Spanish, it does not explicitly protect Asturian. The province of Asturias explicitly protects it and Spain implicitly protects it by not objecting before the Supreme Court.
- Aragonese (Aragonese: aragonés, Castilian: aragonés, also known colloquially as fabla), is spoken in the north of Aragon. It is only vaguely recognized, but not official (as of June, 2008). This language is close to Catalan (specially in Benasque) and to Castilian, with some Basque and Occitan (southern France) influences. Nowadays only a few villages near the Pyrenees use the language vigorously, while most people mix it with Castilian in their daily speech.
- Aranese (Castilian: Aranés, Catalan/Aranese Occitan: Aranès), is spoken in the Aran Valley, and is recognized as an official language of Catalonia (not of Spain), alongside Catalan and Spanish. This language is a variety of Gascon Occitan, and as such is very closely related to Provençal, Limousin, Languedoc, and Catalan.
In addition to the native languages, English and French are commonly studied in school. If you are visiting a tourist area you will find local people are usually fluent in several languages.
French is the most widely understood in the north-east of Spain, like Alquezar and Cap de Creus (at times even better than English), as majority of travelers there come from France.
Locals will appreciate any attempts you make to speak their language. For example, Good morning (Buenos días) and Thank you (Gracias).
If you are interested in learning Spanish, there are options available throughout the country.