How much english is spoken in spain?
I met quite a few spaniards And all except a young pair from thé canary islands spoke fluent english And from people who went to spain i hear that english knowledge is very limited there.
Help us keep this site organized and clean. Thanks!
[
Report Post
]
Comments ( 10
)
-
_Mehhhh_
Depends where in Spain.
In the beach resort areas (Benidorm, Málaga etc) where thousands of British people flock to every year for tourism, you'll obviously find more who speak English. Lots of Spanish people in these areas are involved in the tourism industry, or in services where they have to interact with a lot of (mostly British) tourists, and thus learn English.
If you go out into the country, smaller towns and even some of the larger less beachy resort-y cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, you'll probably find less.
The couple from The Canary Islands I'm guessing were from one of the smaller/less touristy ones.
Comment Hidden ( show ) -
Countess_Kittycat
People generally don't use a lot of English in the streets, but it depends on how close you are to tourist agencies. People can indeed be rude, but the same is true of most places in Europe (or the world), lol. People can also be very, very warm, for what is worth! My parents travel a lot more than I do, and they had a far greater time in Spain than in Germany or France, for instance. Regarding common people, they are more likely to know English well if they are richer and went to language school, but I don't think you would know that at first glance.
Comment Hidden ( show ) -
Murun
The amount of English spoken is inversely proportional to the quality of the area! The coastal resorts full of British drunks and dimwits are best avoided but everyone does speak good English there!
Comment Hidden ( show )-
-
-
Algum
I'm sure you're thinking of places like Mallorca, Ibiza, and the Canaries. Yes, unless you're a young party animal, don't go there. And as for the English speaking, that's only because of all the British vacationers there, they're the ones speaking the English. As for the locals there, not only is their English greatly limited, but they're very rude. The taxi drivers will yell at you over almost nothing, such as getting in their way, taking too long to decide where to go, taking too long to get out of the cab once at destination, or just not understanding them. Same with the local hotel staff and local store merchants. But I think some of that may be because some of them are just sick of all the rowdy, drunk tourists there. I heard from a friend once who vacationed once in Mainland Spain, in Madrid and Barcelona, and that locals there were nicer than on the islands. That there are tourists there too, but they're not all wild, loud, and rowdy ones like in Mallorca, etc.
Comment Hidden ( show )-
-
-
Countess_Kittycat
Lol. I asked a taxist in Madrid to take me to the Museo del Prado. I know Spanish, and my mother language is from the Iberian Romance family, so there was not any significant problem in communication. He spent the whole trip yelling at the traffic, and then dropped me in the middle of the way because he got tired of fighting with the other drivers. I then called another taxi, and this one came with a crying woman in one of the seats. He told me there was no problem and asked me to enter. I found it very weird and suspicious, but entered anyway, as my brother was also with me. The trip this time was otherwise ok, though.
Just a funny annecdote. I love Spain, it kind of feels like home lol
Comment Hidden ( show )
-
-
-
rayb12
It of course depends where you go. Many places you won't even find people who speak Spanish. There are substantial expat communities there as well, and in touristic places I am sure it is not too difficult. No first hand knowledge, except a friend from UK who lives there and my dad travels at times to Barcelona and Madrid
Comment Hidden ( show ) -
PenisNV
-
RoseIsabella