mary_228

My daughter plans to study in Spain and I hoped to get some opinions about the pros and cons of these possible program sites. She will do a homestay and her coursework is Spanish language so that can be accomplished in either site. Mostly wondering about ease/cost of travel to other cities in Europe, but I'm sure there are other considerations. She thinks she will be going to the beach if she studies in Barcelona, for example, but I imagine it will be too cold at that time of year.

Hoping to use FF points for her transatlantic travel and have both MP and AA available, but coming from Chicago, neither city has nonstop flights in any scenario.

spainlover

Caveat that Barcelona is my favorite city, so she will certainly enjoy Barcelona if she lives there.
However, from a language standpoint, Sevilla (or Madrid or Salamanca or another city) would be better, as many if not most people speak Catalan as primary language in Barcelona, not Spanish. Signs are in Catalan, often also in Spanish (or English) but not always. If language is a primary consideration, I would go with Sevilla.
As far as ease or cost of travel to other cities in Europe, Barcelona will have more direct flights to other places. Madrid has the most direct flights, though you didn't mention that as an option.
For part of the semester, she could go to the beach in Barcelona, at least from air temperature if less so for water. Sevilla is also an easy bus ride to the Mediterranean, which will be even warmer in Andalucia than in the area around Barcelona.
Hope that helps.

Palal

I agree with spainlover. Barça is a cosmopolitan city where most speak Catalan. Your daughter will have less reasons to use Spanish while there, whereas in Sevilla she will need it for day-to-day things so she will probably learn the language faster there. I think Sevilla is better for immersing oneself in the Spanish culture while Barça is better for travelling around. But then again, going abroad for a semester is more about immersion than travel, hence I would choose Seville.

LupineChemist

FYI: Barça refers to the football club, not the city.

mary_228

Great information Spainlover and Palal. My daughter and I were unaware that Catalan is spoken in Barcelona. She had already (reluctantly) eliminated a program in San Sebastian because of the Basque language spoken there. Thank you for your reply.

LupineChemist

I would go with San Sebastián/Donostia. Yeah, there is Basque spoken there, but the majority of people still speak Spanish and I would say Spanish is still the dominant language. People don't actually expect any foreigner to learn Basque and would just speak in Spanish.

Barcelona is also very bilingual in that respect, the issue is things tend to be more in Catalan as there is some degree of mutual ineligibility between the languages, especially when written so signs are often exclusively in Catalan whereas in Basque Country, they are bilingual because not everyone even speaks Basque in the first place and it's very different from Spanish (in fact it's not related to any other language spoken by humans)

mary_228

Interesting points. Why do you recommend San Sebastian over Sevilla? From a transportation standpoint, it seems even more difficult to use as a home base.

LupineChemist

EAS airport is indeed poorly communicated, but you can get on an hour long bus ride for cheap at be at BIO which has connections all over. Pretty much all of Spain has a great bus system so getting to airports isn't that big of a deal.

It is a special city, though the language issues aside there is a definite Basque culture which is pretty much nothing you think of when you think of stereotypical Spain. The image sold to the outside world is generally of Andalucía, so if you want that sort of experience, Sevilla is probably the best option.

glennaa11

I just spent a couple of days in Seville and could see spending more time there. They have the old university right there in town and it seemed to have a pretty youthful vibe in general.

Not sure about connections to other places in Europe, but certainly plenty to do in Spain around Andalusia and beyond that could keep her occupied quite easily for that amount of time.

FonzieBone

Sevilla is more *Spanish.* In the heart of Andalucia and with a claim on Christopher Columbus. If it's beach she's looking for, the Costa del Sol is a short bus/train away. Barcelona, while also beautiful, considers itself Spanish much in the way that Texas considers itself American. As spainlover said, Catalan is the primary tongue. Sevilla is also close to other important cultural cities such as Granada and Cordoba. For beach towns google Malaga/Torremolinas/Mijas. Good luck!

linglingfool

I have a lot of friends from UIUC that studied in Spain (primarily Barcelona), and while they did do some travelling internationally, it seemed like they stayed in country more than people who studied elsewhere. I would make sure that she considers domestic transportation options in addition to flights elsewhere on the continent.

spainlover

There are so many wonderful places to travel within Spain, and it is very diverse geographically, culturally and even with regards to language and food.
I spent a semester in Toledo (an hour-bus ride from Madrid and now less than 30 minutes by train), and during that semester, visited Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Marbella and the Costa del Sol, Cadiz and the Costa de la Luz, Tangiers Morocco, the Canary Islands (Tenerife), Asturias and Cantabria, Segovia and Salamanca.
That still left fantastic places like San Sebastian, Santiago de Compostela, Bilbao, La Rioja, Pamplona, Mallorca, Valencia, Cabo de Gata and Ibiza for future trips. And I still haven't made it to Oviedo, Murcia, Caceres or Extremadura, to name a few! No matter where in Spain your daughter studies and travels, she will have plenty to see and do. She won't be bored

mary_228

Seville sounds great. Thank you for your comments!

Palal

In Barcelona everyone who speaks Catalan will also speak Castillian (what you know as Spanish). In Basque Country everyone that speaks Basque will speak Castillian, but may prefer to speak English with you if they speak English. Having said that, the amount of Catalan spoken is Catalonia high, while the amount of Basque spoken in the Basque Country is low. You can definitely learn Castillian Spanish by being in the Basque country.

Weather-wise I would choose Sevilla over San Sebastian. Both parts of Spain should definitely be on her list to visit.
If you want the "Spanish" Spain, then Andalucia is the way to go.

Buses are cheap, trains less so, but can be decently-priced if tickets are bought in advance. Driving is more expensive in the US and requires some knowledge of Spanish language and international road rules, knowledge of how to drive a car with a manual transmission, and the €€ to pay for fuel and tolls.

Koby

Correct. But it's not the best place to learn Spanish IMHO because of the way the language is spoken there. If you want to learn correct Spanish, go to central Spain (Castilla y León, Madrid...)