Holiday for free in Spain

For English teachers in Madrid September is a month many loath, work is scarce the summer is winding down and the mix of idleness and lack of money mean that days can be long and boring. I was stuck in the Madrid September rut when I was lucky enough to stumble across an advert on lingobongo offering free holidays for native English speakers. After a little research I discovered that pueblo ingles an English school in Madrid offered English volunteers a week’s free holiday in exchange for conversing with Spaniards in English. “Anglos” (puebloingles word for native English speakers) get free food and accommodation while the wealthy Spaniards pay a hefty sum for total immersion in English for one week. Initially I was sceptical, drinks from the bar were not free only red wine with your dinner and also you were obliged to get up early and do rotating one hour one on one conversations with Spaniards for the day. With little else to do, money running short and malnutrition setting I decided to sign up for a week, free three course meals and few expenses, it sounded like good respite from the Madrid blues.

My initial expectations were that I would be sent to the remote Pueblo Ingles village in the mountains with not a lot going on, my week would consist of plenty of sleep, good food and maybe a few interesting conversations with the older and wiser Spanish business people. On the Thursday before the Friday departure we were due to meet in a Madrid restaurant for an initiation and introduction into Pueblo Ingles to be attended only by the volunteers. When I arrived into the restaurant much to my surprise there was a plethora of interesting “Anglos” from different countries and backgrounds including an artist from LA, a writer and best of all a trio of beautiful Californian blonds. The lunch was preceded by a quick list of dos and don’ts, such as don’t speak Spanish, or set fire to your chalet. We then had a quick flamenco demonstration before we were sent home to pack and prepare for our descent into the unknown.

After an early rise and a three hour bus journey into the Sierra Mountains we arrived at what was to be our home for the week, we then dropped bags off at our luxurious chalets.Within 20 minutes we were back for a three course lunch before we were sent head first into our one on ones. These turned out to be a pleasant surprise with most of the Spaniards having a reasonably good level of English and from a mixture of backgrounds. Among the Spaniards there was everything from students to a University professor who was hoping to improve his English before doing a lecture in Colombia University about “the origins of life”. At night was when the real fun commenced. The free wine at dinner was taken full advantage of and drinks at the bar were reasonably cheap. Within thirty minutes of the first night I realised that my plan of catching up on some much need sleep was not going to materialise. The majority of both the Anglos and Spaniards stayed up into the early hours of the morning.

At the end of the second day the week’s routine had set in, an early wake up a long shower, strong coffee for breakfast and off you go for a round of one on ones. At two there was a break for lunch and some free time, I usually used this time to take advantage of the outdoor pool facilities. Some used it to recover from the night before. After that some more one on ones and a group activity, this was anything from a short play done by both the Anglos and Spaniards to dance classes. Half way through the week we were brought to the traditional Spanish village of La Albarece for a meal more free wine and a tour of the town. We also had a medieval night on the last night before departure.

To say the least the week was intensive and tiring but having not handed over a cent was well worth it. The food was good and although the wine wasn’t the finest it certainly had the required effect. What I really took away from the week was the different people I met, having made so many new friends many who I still meet on a regular basis in Madrid and having heard so many interesting stories I think I came out with a lot more than I bargained for. There is no guarantee that you will always get such a rich and interesting group of people but if you don’t go you’ll never know.

If your interested in giving it a go there are two competing companies that run this type of programme year round. The company I went with is Pueblo Ingles, the other company is Vaughan systems. Remember both companies do not pay for flights to and from Spain but will show you a very good week at a very low cost.If your passing through Spain and looking for something a bit different it is definitely worth your while!