Where in spain should i travel? July-august?

Question

I have a few choices between southern spain, northern spain. I am going for 32 days on a language study by myself. (the company is LPI) i am 16 years old, and i am in spanish 3.

Northern: santander, san sebastian

Southern: Sevilla, malaga, salamanca, granada.

Which place should i choose? they all sound really good. It will be from July 1 to August 2.

Where is there more stuff to do? which has the best beaches? where will i learn spanish best? my mom says they dont speak as much spanish in northern spain. something called bask?

Answer 1

Seville is the most beautiful city in the world, and I studied there, and learned to speak there (and everyone can tell, because of my very wierd half Andaluz accent!  lol)  but I have to warn you, h**l is cooler than Seville in July and August!  You are much better to go there in the Spring or Fall.  

Granada is a gorgeous city (and my second favorite).  I met some American students there on my last trip, and they loved it.  Much cooler there, because of the mountains, and a super choice.

Salamanca is hardly in the south!  And as it is home to the oldest University in the country, an excellent choice.  A small town, but full of young people because of the University and the Institutes, there.  

If beaches really are your priority, Málaga is a beach resort, but also, a very touristy place, not my first choice.  And bound to be overrun by both natives and tourists, especially, during the summer months.

The northern beaches are supposed to be terrific in the summer, as they are less overrun, and more natives than foreigners.  They will also be much less broilingly hot.  Santander and San Sebastián are both gorgeous places, and I have heard lots of people really crow on what great they are.  San Sebastián IS in the Basque country, though I doubt that will get in your way, and I understand the food there is excellent...something in the way the basque people cook, and the interest of being there would be a draw.

Santander is not Basque.  I'm pretty sure the only official language there is Spanish.  

Anywhere you go, you will be surrounded by Spanish speakers and Spanish culture.  And my experience both my own, and dealing with other people who have traveled and lived abroad is that anyplace you go, you are likely to take advantage of the available culture, and you will come back always thinking of it as your second hometown.

¡Disfruta de todo!

*edit* krispybacon is clueless about Basque.  It is, as another person wrote, not related to any other language in the world...not sure about the alphabet being the oldest, but it is DEFINITELY NOT a little different accent on Spanish...it is not indoeuropean, and has no related languages anywhere...It is believed to be directly descended from the language of the Neanderthal Men.

Answer 2

Okay, I recently returned from a 5 week exchange program in Spain. The family that I stayed with was from Zaragoza. It was amazing, but really Zaragoza is just a big city, comparable to Chicago. We did spend a weekend in San Sebastian. While they do understand and speak Spanish, they have a different dialect that looks far from "normal Spanish". San Sebastian has a breathtaking beach! It is shaped like a shell, and has an island off the coast that you can swim to. There is also a spa right on the beach, that we went to. There is lots of shopping and tapas in San Sebastian, too. I know there was an "attraction park", but it wasn't very big. Overall, I felt like San Sebastian was pretty small. I don't know if there will be enough entertainment for a whole month.

I have also heard that Sevilla is the best city in Spain from several different people, however I have not been there.

Spain is a beautiful place, and I'm sure you'll have tons of fun no matter where you go.

Answer 3

Spain is a beautiful country whichever city you will live in.

I would recommend South of Spain during the summer because you can swim in the hot water of the Mediterranean sea.

Malaga is a very nice place with very nice beaches, but a bit "snob"....

Enjoy your summer!

Answer 4

Basque is only spoken in the autonomous community of The Basque Country (and in Navarre, that is not on the coast) but Spanish is co-official in EVERY province.

North Spain is stunning. Has everything: green landscapes, forest, mountains, really beautiful towns, marine towns and cities, rocky cliffes and large sandy beaches. The con is that the weather is less hot and more changeable. Nights are notably colder than days.

South Spain is very beautiful, but altough is not overrated (it deserves all the fame it has), honestly there are a lot of unknown towns and cities that are also beautiful in other parts of Spain.

Nevertheless, Seville, Cordoba, Granada are stunning cities with an impressive architecture. People are very friendly with a genuine speaking or accent, really nice.

The levant (South-East) is also stunning...

I think that wherever you go, you can see beautiful cities and landscapes, beautiful beaches and lively nightlife.

PS: Salamanca is not in Southern.

Answer 5

What about Barcelona?

My favorite architect, Antonia Gaudi, made some great architecture around the place.

For the rest of the question, Southern Spain has the best beaches, and your Mom's kind of right, it's called Basque and is the language of the people who live in the Pyrenees, who have the oldest recordable alphabet.

An old French teacher's husband was Basque, and it is a very different language than anything else on Earth. It is neither Romantic (like Spanish and French) nor Germanic (like German or English) etc. It is its own thing.

It would be interesting to check out though, but what are you going for? Spanish history or to see the sights or to learn Spanish?

BTW the Spanish let Hitler's Luftwaffe bomb the Basque ppl right at the beginning of WWII to see how well bombing by airplanes do. Some real stuff there.

Also I would check out Picasso as long as you're there, and the most is in Barcelona.

Answer 6

Hey, no one above me is right about Northern Spain. They speak Basque in a few of the places in Northern Spain like San Sebastian but NOT in Santander at all. Everyone that you will meet in Northern Spain that speaks Basque (maybe 20% of the people) will also speak spanish. Most people you will meet learned Basque in school not because their families taught it. Every sign and direction will be in spanish and some others will also be in basque. It is the most beautiful part of the country with green mountains and beautiful beaches. San Sebastian is famous for its surfing as well as the Playa de la Concha which is a famous beach. I would say head to the north.

Answer 7

Definitely southern Spain!  Your mom is right, in northern Spain they do speak Basque, which is a "different version" of Spanish.  (Different accent, vocabulary, etc.-- not what you've learned in school.)

I hear Salamanca is an excellent place to study; that's where two of my Spanish teachers studied.

Answer 8

Hi,

Your mother is correct. In Santander and San Sebastian they do speak Basque as their first language.

Salamanca is where they speak the most purest form of Spanish and is where a lot of people go to learn the language (Salamanca is in the Northwast of Spain, not the South).

Malaga is the only place that you listed that is actually on the coast so that may be your best bet if you want to go to the beach.

Answer 9

BARCELONA!!!! =)