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Learning Spanish in Granada. The tourist guide to study your Spanish course.
Take Spanish lessons in Granada, get lost in her alleyways and discover the Arabic palaces of this southern Spain city.
General Information. 235,000 inhabitants. 427 kilometres to the south of Madrid and 78 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. The city is situated at an altitude of 738 metres in the Vega de Granada area of the province, in a shallow basin between the Genil River and the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It was the capital of the Ziri Kingdom of Granada during the 11th century and of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada between the 13th and 15th centuries. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs eventually conquered the city, which at that time was the last Arab stronghold, and it immediately became the capital of the Kingdom of Granada. Its importance as a university city is reflected in the fact that the University of Granada is the fourth largest in Spain in terms of student numbers, and one of the most popular choices among Erasmus students, Granada has an outstanding choice of schools in which to study the Spanish language. Its schools and faculties are spread across five campuses: Centro, Cartuja, Fuentenueva, Aynadamar and Ciencias de la Salud, and it also has sites in Ceuta and Melilla. Granada is a very attractive place to study Spanish with many language schools offering a wide range of courses.
Surrounding Areas. As Granada is near the mountains (32 kilometres) and the sea (78 kilometres), it is possible to go skiing in the morning and sunbathe in the afternoon. The Granada coastline has many attractive seaside towns with good beaches, including Almuñécar (78 kilometres), Salobreña (66 kilometres) and Motril (67 kilometres), while the Sierra Nevada (32 kilometres) boasts the best ski resorts in Andalusia and the highest peak on the Iberian Peninsula, El Mulhacén (3,481 metres). On the other side of this mountain range lies the region of Las Alpujarras (89 kilometres), with its beautiful and highly distinctive rural villages.
World Heritage Site. La Alhambra, a palatine city built in the 13th and 14th centuries, was a palace and fortress which housed the monarch and the court of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. Its true appeal lies not only in the interiors, whose decor is among the pinnacles of Andalusi art, but also in its location and the way it blends in with the surrounding landscape. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, together the Generalife garden and El Albaicín, an old neighbourhood of Andalusi origin situated opposite La Alhambra.
Main Sights. The entire old quarter is a monument, starting with the abovementioned Alhambra. The Renaissance-style cathedral; the Sacromonte Abbey (Abadía del Sacromonte), with extraordinary views over La Alhambra; the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real), where the Catholic Monarchs are buried; the Monastery of La Cartuja, built in the finest Spanish Baroque style; the Molino Ángel Ganivet Museum House (Museo Casa Molino Ángel Ganivet); the bullring, built in 1928 and declared a national heritage site of cultural interest; the Science Park (Parque de las Ciencias) and the Valparaíso valley.
Culture. The International Jazz Festival (second fortnight of July); the International Festival of Music and Dance (between June and July), one of the most important in Europe; and the International Festival of Young Filmmakers (April), which focuses on short films made by young directors. The Assembly Hall of the Faculty of Sciences (Aula Magna de la Facultad de Ciencias) shows a good selection of independent films. The most important museums in Granada are the Museo José Guerrero and the Museo Caja Granada, and the main theatres are the Teatro Alhambra and the Teatro Municipal Isabel la Católica. Planta Baja is a cocktail bar which also holds concerts and exhibitions, with a cultural programme of events all year round. Sala El Tren is another major concert venue.
Shopping. In Granada you can do all your shopping in La Alcaicería, an old Moorish and Jewish neighbourhood where you will be able to find handicrafts and souvenirs of your stay in this city. On a number of city centre streets (Mesones, Alhóndigas, Puentezuelas and Recogidas) you can find art galleries and leading fashion brands. On certain days of the week there are various street markets selling second-hand items.
Gastronomy. There are several tapas routes in different parts of Granada: Ayuntamiento, Albaicín, Realejo, Plaza de Toros, Bib-Rambla, San Antón, Plaza del Campillo and the neighbourhood of La Chana. It is customary for all bars to serve a free tapa with each glass of wine or beer. The local cuisine is extremely varied: migas alpujarreñas (fried breadcrumbs with thick-cut streaky bacon, chorizo and green peppers), dry-cured ham from Trevelez, broad beans with ham, gazpacho (a chilled soup made from puréed bread and garlic, with raw peppers, tomato and cucumber), ajo blanco, a white version of gazpacho made with almonds and garlic, and tortilla del Sacromonte, a sheep's brain omelette. Typical desserts include a traditional almond cake called torta real, pestiños de Vélez (honey-coated pancakes), tocino de cielo de Guadix (a pudding made with egg yolks and syrup), the fried doughnut-like roscos de Loja, and piononos de Santa Fé (custard-filled pastries topped with burnt sugar).
Sports. If you like skiing or if you want learn it, Granada could well be the city for you, thanks to the Sierra Nevada (32 kilometres), a very lively ski resort which was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1999. It is the second highest massif in Western Europe after the Alps, and the resort has a great infrastructure of hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. There are a number of attractive trekking routes in the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Alpujarra, another mountain range just to the south. The city itself boasts a top basketball team, Club Baloncesto Granada SAD, who currently play at the highest level in the national ACB league.
Fiestas. Holy Week in Granada is renowned throughout Spain for its spectacular floats and processions, and has been declared an Event of National Tourist Interest. The Corpus Christi Fair (Feria del Corpus), which usually coincides with the first days of June, is Granada's most important local fiesta. It begins on a Monday at midnight when the fairground entrance gate lights are turned on, and ends with a firework display the following Sunday.
Transport. Granada has excellent road infrastructures in all directions, as well as various railway lines. There is also a city sightseeing bus which operates throughout the year. It is easy to get from Granada to other Spanish cities by train or by using the various coach services.
Nightlife. Students who decide to study Spanish in Granada will discover a very active nightlife. Being a university city, there is always a great atmosphere and no shortage of bars, which are as varied as the music they play. The most important areas in Granada are Paseo de los Tristes, at the foot of La Alhambra, where there are numerous bars and pubs for starting off the evening, particularly in summer; El Albaicín, with a huge number of popular bars, especially in Calle Elvira; Campo del Príncipe, one of the most charming squares in the whole city; Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcón and Calle Martínez de la Rosa, the most popular streets among the university crowd; the area around the bullring; and the Sacromonte caves, where you can listen to gypsies playing flamenco music while enjoying a glass of the local wine. As for concerts, apart from the two venues already mentioned (Planta Baja and El Tren), Industrial Copera also offers a good selection of live music shows. The college life is a major attraction for the many students who decide to study Spanish in Granada.
General Information. 235,000 inhabitants. 427 kilometres to the south of Madrid and 78 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. The city is situated at an altitude of 738 metres in the Vega de Granada area of the province, in a shallow basin between the Genil River and the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It was the capital of the Ziri Kingdom of Granada during the 11th century and of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada between the 13th and 15th centuries. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs eventually conquered the city, which at that time was the last Arab stronghold, and it immediately became the capital of the Kingdom of Granada. Its importance as a university city is reflected in the fact that the University of Granada is the fourth largest in Spain in terms of student numbers, and one of the most popular choices among Erasmus students, Granada has an outstanding choice of schools in which to study the Spanish language. Its schools and faculties are spread across five campuses: Centro, Cartuja, Fuentenueva, Aynadamar and Ciencias de la Salud, and it also has sites in Ceuta and Melilla. Granada is a very attractive place to study Spanish with many language schools offering a wide range of courses.
Surrounding Areas. As Granada is near the mountains (32 kilometres) and the sea (78 kilometres), it is possible to go skiing in the morning and sunbathe in the afternoon. The Granada coastline has many attractive seaside towns with good beaches, including Almuñécar (78 kilometres), Salobreña (66 kilometres) and Motril (67 kilometres), while the Sierra Nevada (32 kilometres) boasts the best ski resorts in Andalusia and the highest peak on the Iberian Peninsula, El Mulhacén (3,481 metres). On the other side of this mountain range lies the region of Las Alpujarras (89 kilometres), with its beautiful and highly distinctive rural villages.
World Heritage Site. La Alhambra, a palatine city built in the 13th and 14th centuries, was a palace and fortress which housed the monarch and the court of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. Its true appeal lies not only in the interiors, whose decor is among the pinnacles of Andalusi art, but also in its location and the way it blends in with the surrounding landscape. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, together the Generalife garden and El Albaicín, an old neighbourhood of Andalusi origin situated opposite La Alhambra.
Main Sights. The entire old quarter is a monument, starting with the abovementioned Alhambra. The Renaissance-style cathedral; the Sacromonte Abbey (Abadía del Sacromonte), with extraordinary views over La Alhambra; the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real), where the Catholic Monarchs are buried; the Monastery of La Cartuja, built in the finest Spanish Baroque style; the Molino Ángel Ganivet Museum House (Museo Casa Molino Ángel Ganivet); the bullring, built in 1928 and declared a national heritage site of cultural interest; the Science Park (Parque de las Ciencias) and the Valparaíso valley.
Culture. The International Jazz Festival (second fortnight of July); the International Festival of Music and Dance (between June and July), one of the most important in Europe; and the International Festival of Young Filmmakers (April), which focuses on short films made by young directors. The Assembly Hall of the Faculty of Sciences (Aula Magna de la Facultad de Ciencias) shows a good selection of independent films. The most important museums in Granada are the Museo José Guerrero and the Museo Caja Granada, and the main theatres are the Teatro Alhambra and the Teatro Municipal Isabel la Católica. Planta Baja is a cocktail bar which also holds concerts and exhibitions, with a cultural programme of events all year round. Sala El Tren is another major concert venue.
Shopping. In Granada you can do all your shopping in La Alcaicería, an old Moorish and Jewish neighbourhood where you will be able to find handicrafts and souvenirs of your stay in this city. On a number of city centre streets (Mesones, Alhóndigas, Puentezuelas and Recogidas) you can find art galleries and leading fashion brands. On certain days of the week there are various street markets selling second-hand items.
Gastronomy. There are several tapas routes in different parts of Granada: Ayuntamiento, Albaicín, Realejo, Plaza de Toros, Bib-Rambla, San Antón, Plaza del Campillo and the neighbourhood of La Chana. It is customary for all bars to serve a free tapa with each glass of wine or beer. The local cuisine is extremely varied: migas alpujarreñas (fried breadcrumbs with thick-cut streaky bacon, chorizo and green peppers), dry-cured ham from Trevelez, broad beans with ham, gazpacho (a chilled soup made from puréed bread and garlic, with raw peppers, tomato and cucumber), ajo blanco, a white version of gazpacho made with almonds and garlic, and tortilla del Sacromonte, a sheep's brain omelette. Typical desserts include a traditional almond cake called torta real, pestiños de Vélez (honey-coated pancakes), tocino de cielo de Guadix (a pudding made with egg yolks and syrup), the fried doughnut-like roscos de Loja, and piononos de Santa Fé (custard-filled pastries topped with burnt sugar).
Sports. If you like skiing or if you want learn it, Granada could well be the city for you, thanks to the Sierra Nevada (32 kilometres), a very lively ski resort which was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1999. It is the second highest massif in Western Europe after the Alps, and the resort has a great infrastructure of hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. There are a number of attractive trekking routes in the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Alpujarra, another mountain range just to the south. The city itself boasts a top basketball team, Club Baloncesto Granada SAD, who currently play at the highest level in the national ACB league.
Fiestas. Holy Week in Granada is renowned throughout Spain for its spectacular floats and processions, and has been declared an Event of National Tourist Interest. The Corpus Christi Fair (Feria del Corpus), which usually coincides with the first days of June, is Granada's most important local fiesta. It begins on a Monday at midnight when the fairground entrance gate lights are turned on, and ends with a firework display the following Sunday.
Transport. Granada has excellent road infrastructures in all directions, as well as various railway lines. There is also a city sightseeing bus which operates throughout the year. It is easy to get from Granada to other Spanish cities by train or by using the various coach services.
Nightlife. Students who decide to study Spanish in Granada will discover a very active nightlife. Being a university city, there is always a great atmosphere and no shortage of bars, which are as varied as the music they play. The most important areas in Granada are Paseo de los Tristes, at the foot of La Alhambra, where there are numerous bars and pubs for starting off the evening, particularly in summer; El Albaicín, with a huge number of popular bars, especially in Calle Elvira; Campo del Príncipe, one of the most charming squares in the whole city; Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcón and Calle Martínez de la Rosa, the most popular streets among the university crowd; the area around the bullring; and the Sacromonte caves, where you can listen to gypsies playing flamenco music while enjoying a glass of the local wine. As for concerts, apart from the two venues already mentioned (Planta Baja and El Tren), Industrial Copera also offers a good selection of live music shows. The college life is a major attraction for the many students who decide to study Spanish in Granada.
© TEXT: SPANISH IN TOUR.
VIDEO: Patronato de Turismo de Granada
VIDEO: Patronato de Turismo de Granada
