Holiday in Real Spain

inmypocketnottheirs

Hi all.

This is the situation - my 7 year old son has been taking Spanish lessons for the last six months or so, and has really been making great progress. As a reward for his hard work - and to improve his language skills - we would like a week away in Spain. However we want somewhere where we can be 'guaranteed' that he will come in to contact with kids his own age so he can really make us of his new found ability.

I was wondering if:

a) Any MSE'rs have a property for rental that would be suitable
b) If any one could recommend a website relevant to our requirements
c) If any one has done the same exercise

I know there's alot of knowledge and expertise on this forum, so it seems a good place to start.

Thanks in advance :beer:

researcher

I can't help with the above, but a bit of general advice:

The Spanish accents vary hugely, with some regions speaking their own language. Particularly avoid southern Spain (Andalucia), and Calatonia (Barcelona/Valencia region). They speak spanish with a very different accent to that which your little boy will be learning. As the most common response he will get is 'que' (what), he's going to find it very frustrating. Apart from the mainland you might consider the canary islands where they speak spanish quite clearly - just avoid the bigger tourist resorts.

bestyman

Hi,
There are many places that are nice for a real spain holiday.

What we usually do is fly into Malaga airport, hire a car and explore Andalucia ( costa del sol). Cheap flights jet2, easyjet, bmibaby, etc.

We have just returned from Granada. Granada is an inland city so not much to do for kids but a short drive away is the Sierra Nevada which is a ski resort. If you cannot ski there are rubber rings to sledge on , chairlifts and husky dogs that pull sledges. No signs or english speaking here.

Other places to try on the coast are:

Nerja, Spanish spoken here but also has some english speaking places.Fairly big resort but again not much for kids.

Estopona, Similar to Nerja .

Avoid torremolinos and benalmedina.

Inland we once stoped at a place called Coin. Spainish is a must here and we struggled a bit there. Competa is also spanish and in the mountains.

You could stay at one of the above and during the day explore the area . Visit the croc park, cable cars at benalmadino, Tivoli world is a safari park that is good.

The problem is that at the real spanish places the kid may get bored as there isnt much to do. Could you stay at 2 places for your hol ( 1 touristy , 1 spanish) to have the best of both worlds. Even in the touristy areas he will find spanish kids on the beach to talk to.

The above poster is correct about the accent in Andalucia, but they understand me out there ( mostly) and my Spanish is terrible.Having said that Ive spent a lot of time there.

https://www.tripadvisor.com is a good place for more info and many locals on the forum who you can ask questions to.

My sister has propert in nerja and competa , https://www.nerjaprimesite.co.uk but only 2 bed but her website has general info about the area . https://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk has many suitable properties.

Link here for trip advisor forums, from here you can select a more specific area of spain if you like,http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g187427-i42-Spain.html

Hope this helps

inmypocketnottheirs

Muchas gracias a los dos postadores arriba!

Many thanks to the two posters above!

Your comments are very much appreciated and noted.

I myself actually lived on the Costa del Sol, and learned Spanish whilst there. Actually I am quite accustomed to the andalucian spanish, but you are quite right researcher, at the risk of offending some, it would be like sending a seven year old Spanish boy to Gateshead to learn English!!!!

We spent a week in 2004 in Estepona and had a marvellous time, the problem is being somewher where we can have a guarantee of Spanish contact. Generally speaking the Spaniards tend to keep themselves to themselves and it can be quite difficult to mix.

I was just really looking in the hope that someone would have had a similar experience that they might be able to share. My son is so keen and at seven years of age, language does not tend to be much of a barrier, we would just like to find him some way to use what he has learnt in a practical situation.

Thanks again, your help is appreciated.

lush_walrus

How about going to Valencia? Ryan air fly there very cheaply, and Al Fes (ooops havent a clue how to spell it) will be soon I think in March. My sister lived there for 3 years and its very much a spanish city rather than tourist trap so your son would most certainly be able to get talking to some local children in one of the many parks.

inmypocketnottheirs

lush_walrus wrote:

How about going to Valencia? Ryan air fly there very cheaply, and Al Fes (ooops havent a clue how to spell it) will be soon I think in March. My sister lived there for 3 years and its very much a spanish city rather than tourist trap so your son would most certainly be able to get talking to some local children in one of the many parks.

Cheers wil investigate it.

Talking about ryanair, any truth in the rumour that hold baggage will have to be paid for, regrdless of weight. Anything over 10kg handbaggage will be charged?

lush_walrus

Aparently its something they are planning to bring in, Im not sure if they have set a date on it yet.

LesD

inmypocketnottheirs wrote:

Cheers wil investigate it.

Talking about ryanair, any truth in the rumour that hold baggage will have to be paid for, regrdless of weight. Anything over 10kg handbaggage will be charged?

Have you checked the Ryanair website?

budgetflyer

Ryanair also fly to Valladolid. Centre of Castile y Leon Provence. They speak Castillian which is prob the Spanish he is learning. Around 200Km from Madrid, the region is famous for its acient castles and monastries
More info at

http://www.turismocastillayleon.com/cm?locale=en_UK&textOnly=false

discodiva_2

Hola


I think that you should forget about dialects because I think that the majority of spaniards would be happy to try to understand your son !!!!!!!

My suggestions for places to go

1. Nerja Costa del Sol
2. Madrid
3. Seville fantastic city
4.Granada
5.Cadiz

Also Murcia and Valencia are nice

SAZZLEEVANS

PS 80 % of owners in the block are Spanish.In August hes bound to find a pal to chat too!!!!!!!!!!!!