Auf der Weltausstellung in Zaragoza dreht sich vom 14. Juni bis 14. September 2008 alles um das Thema „Wasser und nachhaltige Entwicklung“.
Deutschland präsentiert auf der EXPO eine attraktive Mischung aus Information und Unterhaltung und zeigt innovative Technologien, richtungsweisende Entwicklungen und kreative Ideen.
Der Deutsche Pavillon nimmt Sie mit auf eine Reise in die wunderbare Welt des Wassers. Erleben Sie ein modernes Wassermärchen und entdecken Sie faszinierende deutsche Wasserlandschaften.

Kamila Hazdrová from the CzechRepublic has won a free 2 week Spanish course with don Quijote.

In September 2007, we held a contest in our Monthly Newsletter offering a student the possibility to win a free Spanish course at don Quijote. We are very happy to announce our winner.

24 year old Kamila Hazdrová from the Czech Republic, a subscriber to our Monthly Newsletter, participated in the draw and won a free 2 week Intensive Spanish course with accommodation. The destination Kamila has chosen for her course is don Quijote Granada school where she will study for two weeks in May.  

Congratulations once again!

We would like to thank all our participants and remind you to keep your eyes peeled for future contests.

If you have not yet signed up for our Monthly Newsletter sign up to find out all about our special offers, programs and contests.

Do you also want to study abroad with don Quijote?  Order your free brochure to get more information about our courses

If you want to study and work in Spain, here is a great opportunity for you.

don Quijote's Study and Work program in Marbella provides students from European Union countries a unique opportunity to learn Spanish in Spain while working to cover their expenses and improving their CV.

And even better news is that you can now book your Spanish course and work placement in Spain for an unbeatable price.

Book before March 31st and get a special discount on the price of don Quijote's Study and Work program that will allow you to save 25% on the price of the course.

 Read more about this offer here

 Want more information? Ask for details now!

 Click here to ask for a free phone call from don Quijote's course counsellors now!

It's Carnival time in Tenerife and Cádiz!

If you thought that festive Carnival celebrations were the exclusive property of Brazil or Venice, you'll be in for a wild surprise during a February visit to Spain. The most famous Spanish carnival celebrations take place in Tenerife in the Canary Islands and Cádiz in Andalusia.

Tenerife’s Carnival is similar to that of Río de Janeiro, perhaps simply due to geography, since Tenerife is a tropical island with an average temperature of 22º Celsius throughout the year. For "Tinerfeños", Carnaval is the event of the year. Locals work diligently on their costumes for months before the start of the festivities. Dance, music and color take to the streets during the the island's Carnival parades. The most important parades take place in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the island. If you're eager to see local color and culture while you learn Spanish, Carnival is an ideal time for Spanish course at don Quijote Tenerife.

When: January 30 – February 9th, 2008

See some of our students' photos of past Tenerife Carnivals.

More detailed information: Carnaval Tenerife, the official website.

El dia de los muertos (day of the dead) is celebrated on November 1st, throughout Mexico with variations seen in other Latin American countries and other parts of the world.

It is a joyous holiday commemorating the lives of those who have passed away. It is part of a three-day celebration honouring the dead, who are believed to return to their homes on October 31st, Halloween.

As published by don Quijote in the Costa Blanca News:

El Camino de Santiago

The pilgrimage is the new black. It's unlike anything seen since the 13th Century.

People are once again taking to the road and following the medieval Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James) across the north of Spain. Guided by yellow arrows, men and women of all nationalities head west from the French border on a 750km journey over mountains, wheat fields, forests and vine yards, taking in Pamplona, Burgos and León. Medieval pilgrims seeked faith and penance whilst modern pilgrims often do it for the architecture, the physical effort, the incredible landscape or to take “time out” and seek a new direction. But whatever their reason, the camino is undoubtedly an unforgettable experience unique to Spain.

The Origins of the Camino

Back in 44AD, the pagan Queen Lupa of Padrón, Galicia, recieved two Palestinian refugees bearing the headless and decomposing corpse of a Christian martyr, requesting to bury him there. The body...    more »

Here's a quick guide to Spanish dance, complete with phrases and vocabulary to practice at the end of the article, as it was published in the Costa Blanca News. (And as you see from the photo, our Seville partner school does indeed offer a Spanish & Flamenco course. Tempting?)

¡Mira Quién Baila! – A Guide to Spanish Dance

The recent success of reality TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing in Britain and ¡Mira Quién Baila! in Spain has sparked a dance revival. More people than ever are interested in learning to tango and salsa and what better place to do so than here in Spain where many of the dances originated! Dancing is an excellent form of exercise and a very social past-time too but with so many seemingly similar dances to choose from, where do you start? Here is a guide to some of the more famous Spanish dances…

Flamenco

It is generally agreed that flamenco originated in Andalusía however it is unknown who actually created the dance. It is thought that flamenco was influenced above all by..    more »

Another of the "Living in Spain" pieces we've published in English language media, this article introduces you to the diversity of Spain's 17 regions, by offering a look at Andalucía, Cataluña, El País Vasco and Galicia. We've included phrases and vocabulary to learn at the end of the article. Enjoy!

Las Regiones de España – Spanish Regions

Flamboyant fiestas, noisy tapas bars, flamenco dancing, blue skies and a glistening green sea are just some of the images traditionally conjured up at the mention of Spain. There is no wonder that some 400,000 foreign nationals have taken up residence in the south and some 55 million tourists flock to the country each year. However, while these sunny notions of  Spain are accurate there is a whole lot more to be discovered! There is not enough space here to justify Spain's enormous diversity but this is a brief guide to some of its most famous and distinctive regions.   more »

This article was prepared for the English language press in Spain by a don Quijote intern from the UK earlier this year. Some of the fiesta dates mentioned in the article have passed now, for 2007....so we've included links to handy sites where you can always find an upcoming Spanish fiesta...

A Guide to Fiestas and Public Holidays in Spain

The Spaniards' love of noise, colour, dressing up, and generally having a ball is indulged at regular periods throughout the year, thanks to a fixed calendar of public holidays, ferias and fiestas which is strictly observed.

This concept may be a little strange to those of us used to Bank Holiday Mondays being days where the shops are open longer and DIY stores do big business or the sales starting on Boxing Day. However in Spain public holidays still mean exactly that, and, if you're not aware of them, they can catch you out. So write them in your diary and keep them free; nobody does fiesta better than the Spanish – and what better way to spend the day than joining in?!

Carnival, celebrated early in February, marked the kick off of Spain's fiesta calendar and, as Easter approaches, there's plenty more to come…

Here are 9 things to love about Salamanca, selected a couple of years ago by Christophe Rousseel, a Belgian student and writer who worked with don Quijote during his internship. Christophe spent at least 4 or 5 months here, enough to offer all sorts of advice about how to enjoy Salamanca - by day and by night:

9 things to love about Salamanca

1    Students

Nicknamed the Oxford of the Spanish world, the university of Salamanca boasts a student population of roughly 32000 Spanish students and some 6000 foreign students. There are even more students, since these figures don’t include the considerable number of Spanish learners attending private schools in Salamanca. The high concentration of Spanish and foreign students - there is one student for every 3 or 4 Salmantinos - bestows a unique atmosphere on the small city.

2   Nightlife

Insiders will tell you that Salamanca nightlife can rival any other city in Spain. Or as they say here: Salamanca por la noche, como ninguna. Perhaps it’s not as trendy as Barcelona or as acclaimed as Ibiza but Salamanca at night is custom-made for students. Prices are adapted to student budgets; 5 Euro for an open bar is no exception. The city is easy to get around: you can get anywhere on foot. It is also a lot safer than the bigger party capitals. And last but not least, nightlife is not at all limited to the weekends; you can go out seven days per week (although I advise against it).
Notwithstanding the fact that it’s a small city, Salamanca offers a plethora of bars and clubs: progressive, laid-back bars like Birdland on Plaza de España (named after the landmark jazz club in New York) or Clave del Ocho (near Gran Vía), cosy sidewalk cafés for a quiet talk (like Erasmus on Rua Antigua), crowded discotheques like    more »

This fun guide to the art of tapeo was published by don Quijote in the Costa Blanca News.  Read through - you'll find handy Spanish phrases to use during your bar outing at the end of the article. The author is an intern here in Salamanca, with plenty of tapas experience:

No self-respecting Spanish bar would risk being caught without an intriguing array of tapas arranged across its counter. These saucer-sized bites, as much a part of Spanish culture as the siesta and the fiesta, come in infinite varieties and, more often than not, are completely unidentifiable to the untrained eye. However the art of ir de tapas is one that the Spanish have honed to perfection and, once mastered, is arguably the most enjoyable way to enjoy ‘fast food’ with friends!  

A brief history of the tapa...

Hundreds of our students have received free hotel vouchers to explore Spain.

You can still get free nights in selected hotels when you book your Spanish course at don Quijote,  but act quickly!

While supplies last - and you remember to mention this offer when you book your course- you'll receive, along with the rewarding experience of studying Spanish with the leading school in Spain, a hotel voucher for a stay of up to 3 nights in one of hundreds of selected hotels in Spain, Portugal and Andorra. Who's says language study shouldn't include travel in the language you're learning? The vouchers are valid for one year, so you can travel before, during or after your course - or come back to give your Spanish a little outing in Spain later in the year.

 Read more about this offer here.

 NOTE: This offer ends on September 1, 2007

A virtual visit to Salamanca in images, have a look at this video, discover this amazing Spanish city full of history and culture, and see our first school of Spanish, don Quijote Salamanca school.

  Get more information about Salamanca, ask for a free brochure! .

We've just added two new partner schools, carefully selected to meet our standards of quality in teaching and service.

This news add two truly emblematic (should I even say legendary?) Spanish cities to your don Quijote options: Pamplona, a cobblestoned city of tradition, and yes, the famous running of the bulls, and Cádiz, (above, in photo) a sun drenched enclave rich in history, traditional culture, and white architecture against blue Andalucian skies.

Read more about Cádiz and what you can do in your free time through the entire province of Cádiz- from walks on pristine beaches to hikes in the sierra - here.

Read what TourSpain has to say about lovely, historic Pamplona here.

According to an article published in El Pais a week or two ago (to which I unfortunately cannot link since it is in the paid archives section of the website), work on Gaudí's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is going quickly, and will be completely finished during 2008.

I wonder if it will attract as many tourists as a completed church as it does as a stunning work-in-progress?

March 19th marked the 125th anniversary of the laying of the first stone for the church.  

Rigol also talked about a contest, to be launched in June, of ideas about just how to put the final touches on the Sagrada Familia. Now that could be fun...

¡LAS FALLAS!

Valencia's ayuntamiento has announced the dates and events for this year's Las Fallas celebrations!

You can read more about Las Fallas in this post, and you can download a PDF with photos, schedules and information about this year's celebration ...   more »