Spanish Cities: S/D

Zaragoza seems very nice. I also liked Barcelona but they speak Catalan also. That's fun though.

La Coruna is nice if you like that sort of thing. Not North, but I like Sevilla, too. Spain is a wonderful, majestic, proud country.

adam you just made spain sound so gay. isn't la coruna in galicia?

also you shouldn't be so afraid of the regions that speak other languages because they also use spanish. you'll still be able to practice it.

it IS gay, but you don't have to be gay to visit.

Map of Spain
http://www.map-of-spain.co.uk/large-map-of-spain.htm

I was welcomed and treated well, well enough for a non-gay.

Barcelona, Seville and Malaga are the places I have been and I like all three of them.

I don't think I'd suggest living in Malaga though (I mean, I would live there, but it doesn't strike me as the kind of place other people would want to live in), and Seville can get terribly hot (I've only been twice, and it was kind of freaky hot both times, but I believe that's normal).

So, er, yes. Barcelona. Go there. (also cheap flights back to Glasgow on Globespan, Air Scotland and Ryanair)

I'd live in Barcelona if I could. I'd befriend those Mad Max goths that are always running around.

I really like the look of Vigo, which is near La Coruna, but I don't really know how widely Galician is spoken. Actually I don't even know if it is called Galician. I am worried about catalonia even though it looks amazing, just because I know that people speak Catalan and Spanish completely interchangeably there and mix them up all the time. I know it will be fine if I go somewhere with a strong second or joint language, I just think I'd get less confused somewhere where I'd only really hear Spanish.

I want to travel around though, so I'm interested to hear about cities anywhere. I really want to see Barcelona. But I think I might be better of living somewhere dirt cheap and having the extra money to go daytripping to big beautiful cities.

This is exciting.

Don't go to Madrid.

barcelona and valencia are both wonderful - i would choose the former if i were you, though yeah it's a bit expensive... i always wanted to go to bilbao but never made it there, so that might be fun too. though their only attraction might be that hideous modern guggenheim. still badass.

also i lived in valencia for 5 months and had no problem avoiding valenciano and speaking only spanish with people... everyone speaks spanish, most signs are in spanish, and most young people, at least, tend to prefer spanish as a 1st language. there are some wicked tv stations in valenciano though.

I liked madrid, when I visited it.

I have to stay in Madrid first for a week to do a teacher-training course thing. I hope that wherever I go afterwards doesn't pale in comparison.

Barcelona all the way. Don't be scared of the Catalan spoken there, it's easy to get a pretty good grasp of it quite quickly if you know some French aswell as Castellano Spanish (the common kind). Learning Euskara/Basque might be a bit more ambitious though.

Barcelona, definitely. But if you really have to be in the North, I'd recommend San Sebastian - very close to the French border - Biarritz not too far away - lovely city with great beaches & the whole northern coast of Spain is rugged & beautiful, not unlike NZ's South Island's West Coast (tho' this fact might not help you)

Also, definitely S: Sevilla, Bilbao, Salamanca

Bill E OTM. I would not give short shrift to Madrid's museums.

Cathy, try to go to San Sebastián. Don't worry about Basque, you can quite easily ignore its existence, should you wish to. Think of it as the hundreds and thousands on a big cake of Spanish. Other advantages include: proximity to France (there is even a little local choo-choo to Hendaye), best food in Spain by miles, proper cider, erm, erm, lots of things. It's small enough to get to know reasonably quickly but big enough to have cultural goings on. It's very beautiful, although there is grimness aplenty if you're in the mood. Another thing is, I think the whole region is on the verge of positive and monumental change, but I could be wrong. If you like the sea it's great, because it's proper sea, unlike the Med. Fishermen and all that. People can just glance at the sea and give you a long-range weather forecast.

Vitoria-Gasteiz is a good second choice. No seaside, but very pleasant in its way. And there is a lake that people use as the seaside.

Bilbao is probably a bit too much like Glasgow. Nice enough, but not all that different.

Galicia is nice, but miles away from France.

In Oviedo they speak Bable or something, some kind of dialect, alongside Spanish. It's not a reason to not go, but you ought to be aware.

I don't recommend Barcelona, everyone will speak English to you. It drove me round the bend after seven years in San Sebastián. There is a much higher density of wankers anyway.

I think Leon is famed for its good Spanish. Salamanca has a very nice university. Murcia is famed for its bad Spanish.

That is my considered opinion.

Ignore Basque at your peril, if you intend to spend an extended period in Basque country, the people are fiecely proud whether or not they support partition.

Try Santander - 50 Km South of Bilbao, so close enough to France. University city; lots of foreign students; good language school; friendly people; not too hot; never really cold; easy travel via luxury ferry, Bilbao airport, road and rail.

Bugger, wish I'd never left.

Cobblers, on both counts.

I have almost no memory of starting this thread. So, I filled out the form and tried to forget about it for a few months, and this morning I finally got confirmation of where I'm going. I've been allocated a school in the centre of Leon. I'm really pleased that I'm in the centre of a city, albeit a small one, that's going to make things so much easier.

Has anyone ever been to Leon? I have a guide book for Northern Spain but it only has a couple of pages on the city itself. I won't have a car but hopefully I'll be able to find my way to some of the places people mentioned on this thread.

My guide book tells me Leon is freezing in winter and unbearably hot in summer. Oh well.

I am glad you are going to Leon.

!!! Will you have a spare sofa for visitors?

Of course! You must come and visit. I just read that Leon is renowned for its trout!

I will be right at home then.