Spanish courses abroad

Spanish courses start at €105/week in 2026. A typical four-week stay, tuition and accommodation together, runs between €700 and €3,200. Spain is the cheapest in Europe: Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia hover around €105/week, Ibiza from €170/week. Across the Atlantic, Buenos Aires starts at €169/week, with Costa Rica and Mexico between €179/week and €242/week. What moves the final figure: how intensive the course is (general, intensive or one-to-one), where you sleep (host family, residence or apartment) and the extras you add (airport transfer, DELE exam fee, activity programme). For an exact quote, ask your local advisor or grab the free brochure.

It comes down to your goal, your budget and the Spanish you want in your ear. Spain takes most of our students: the widest choice of courses, Europe's lowest prices, and almost no paperwork if you live in the EU. Go to Barcelona for the creative buzz, Madrid for the textbook accent, Salamanca for the tradition, San Sebastián for pinchos and the beach. Latin America suits a longer, cheaper immersion: Buenos Aires for the porteño lilt and tango, Costa Rica for surf and pura vida, Mexico City for the food. Your ESL advisor draws up a free shortlist around your level, your dates and what you can spend.

Spanish learners can start as young as 8 and keep going with no upper limit at all. The junior camps take 8 to 17s on full board with round-the-clock supervision, mixing class with sport and excursions in Barcelona, Malaga and San Sebastian. Adult courses start at 16 and run at every level and length. Our 50+ programme is built for the over-50s: small groups, classroom mornings, and afternoons spent discovering the city with people at the same stage of life.

It depends on your passport and how long you plan to stay.

EU and EEA citizens can study in Spain without a visa, whatever the duration, although you will need to register locally if you stay longer than three months.

If you’re travelling on a non‑EU passport, short stays of up to 90 days are covered by Schengen rules (with or without a visa depending on your nationality). For longer programmes, you’ll need a student visa (visado de estudios).

Across Latin America, many countries allow visa‑free stays of around 90–180 days for tourism, depending on your nationality. However, study visa requirements vary by destination, so it’s always worth checking the details in advance.

Because rules can change, our advisors keep track of each country and guide you through the paperwork at no extra cost.

Work rules depend on your nationality, your visa, and your course.

In Spain, EU/EEA citizens can work freely. Non‑EU students on a study visa can usually work up to 30 hours per week, as long as the job fits around their studies and the correct authorisation is in place where required.

In Latin America, the picture varies; each country has their own set of rules, so we recommend that you speak with your ESL advisor to get the whole picture.

Here is the enjoyable bit, not the admin. Our advisors talk it through as five quick calls. Begin with why you are going: a fast brush-up, a DELE certificate, a career jump or a long escape, each steering you to a different course. Then the sound you want in your ear: Castilian, Andalusian, the rioplatense of Buenos Aires, neutral Mexican or the Caribbean lilt of Costa Rica. Money comes third: Spain is the simple reach from Europe, while Latin America stretches further once you have landed. Picture your weekends next, from Barcelona beaches to asado nights in Buenos Aires, then settle on length: a week or two to refresh, four to twelve for genuine progress, six to nine months to reach fluency. Still on the fence? Grab the brochure or book a free 20-min call.

Book through ESL and you pay the school's own price, with a few things they never throw in on their own. Step one is a no-cost comparison and a shortlist drawn up before you commit, backed by the best price guarantee: spot the identical course cheaper elsewhere and the gap comes back to you. Visa guidance covers Spain and every Latin American country that needs it, and a pre-departure briefing tells you how the city works, what to pack and what to leave behind. Once you are away, a 24/7 emergency line is yours, and so are free changes if plans wobble before take-off. An activity programme sits inside every course too, museums through to food walks, at no extra cost. Your advisor stays a message away from that first call to your homecoming, face to face at any of our 40+ offices or over phone, email and video.

You can join at any rung, from a standing start (A0) to full command (C2), with everything mapped onto the Common European Framework. A free online placement test before you fly means day one drops you among classmates at your own level. At the foot of the ladder (A0 to A2) you cover survival Spanish, travel basics and the present and past. The middle (B1 to B2) handles work, study and current affairs, the level most employers and universities want to see. Higher up (C1 to C2) you chase nuance, argument and exam technique, and if day one feels mismatched the school reseats you within 24 hours. From B1 the DELE and SIELE come into reach, both honoured by every Spanish-speaking university and most employers worldwide.