kenderina

Shamrock14...you are describing Salamanca quite well Except it only has buses for public transport. It has about 160,000 people and you cannot find so much history/art in any big city.

But if you still discard it, then I think Valencia is your best bet for what you are looking for.

carolo

My 20 year old daughter, who is a college junior, just game back from a semester in Granada and absolutely loved it. We also went to see her there. She came home speaking fluent Spanish which is more like the Spanish she learned in school. Her recommendation is to stay with a host family to learn even more. Good luck.

plambers

I studied Spanish in Madrid thru NYU. I spent 5 months there and lived w/ 2 viudas (widows). I loved living in a big city but being able to visit the smaller towns and cities.

Revulgo

For learning Spanish I'd choose Old Castile: Salamanca or Santander.

mcm3f

Shamrock14, one last bit of advice -- you might want to check with the university about whether classes in Barcelona would be taught in Castellano or Catalan.

torrem

Shamrock 14,

not sure if you've answered this already, but are you coming to study Spanish specifically (i.e., taking Spanish language classes) or to study something else (e.g., economics, history, etc) and learn Spanish in the process?

this is important, because if it is the former, I would recommmend Barcelona, but if it is the latter, definitely do not go to Barcelona as chances are most of the classes will be in Catalan. double check that before you go. By the way, Catalan is a language, not a dialect, do not dare to call it a dialect while you're there, unless you want to offend someone.

I'm curious to know why Madrid is not one of your first options, it is a great city (I live here), and althoug it is not as close to the rest of Europe as Barcelona is, it is better connected by plane and it is more convenient for exploring the rest of Spain.

I also love Barcelona, my wife is from there and I go there frequently (was there last weekend), but the Catalan issue is important, the other day there was an article on a local newspaper about the growing number of "Erasmus" students that were very dissappointed about having to take classes in catalan when they came here to learn Spanish.

vivi

My daughter did a semester abroad in Salamanca and just loved it.

kygirl59

Consider San Sebastian

kybourbon

I would think you would need to go wherever your college approves and they accept their transfer credits.

DD spent a semester in Madrid. Since her degree was Chemical Engineering (Spanish minor), her college required courses at Polytechnica (engineering classes) and at Complutense (Spanish lit classes). Classes started end of Jan. and early Feb. Final exams weren't until mid to late June. I think you need to plan on five months, not four.

If you are just going to a language school, then I think Salamanca would be best.

When we were in Barcelona, DD was disappointed that everyone used Catalan and you didn't hear as much Spanish.