Teaching Abroad in Spain Overview: Sure it's the land of Picasso, ancient Christian aqueducts and some of the best tasting food in the world, but it also a land of pristine beaches, glaring discos and some superb old buildings. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao will amaze your viewing senses, but add a walk through the Camino de Santiago or hunt for a bargain at the El Rastro flea market in Madrid and you will feel just like a local. For the truly heightened experience, see a live bullfight, or catch Real Madrid in action on the soccer field. Good food, great wine and a truly exemplary people await in every city-square and around every winding cobbled pathway. Buenos Dias (Good Day).
Interesting Facts About Spain
The Spanish like their free time, and spend more time off work than the citizens of any other country in the world except Iceland.
The "Spanish language" is actually just one dialect: Castilian. Other dialects include Galician, Basque and Catalan.
Madrid is in the exact centre of the country.
Bullfighting, considered an art and a popular attraction, is the biggest and most controversial sport in Spain and is an integral part of Spanish history, art and culture with bull rings in all major cities and quite a few minor ones.
Accepting a second serving is one of the best ways to show appreciation to the cook.
Spain produces 44% of all the earth's olive oil.
Highlights of Working Abroad in Spain
Explore the amazing, whimsical architecture of Gaudi's Parc Guell in Barcelona
Go bargain hunting in El Rastro flea market in Madrid
Party through the night during Valencia's Las Fallas
Eat home-cooked paella or fabada asturiana (a heavy white bean-based stew)
Drink red wine from the Ribera del Duero region or a Voll Damm beer
Festivals in Spain La Tomatina Festival - Tomato Throwing Festival
This annual event gives new meaning to the expression 'playing with your food'. The humble and normally quiet town of Bunol, in eastern Spain, hosts the world's largest tomato fight. There are lots of theories on how the festival started; one is that it began in 1945 with anti-Franco protests, although any link between Franco and tomatoes remains ambiguous. Another theory is that it started when two friends had a stand-up knock-down argument while sharing a meal.
Whichever the case, if you plan on attending be sure to bring goggles and clothes you don't minding throwing away. You may walk away with some bruises too with over 20,000 revelers pelting each other with large, red, squishy tomatoes!
