Recruiting students and companies worldwide since 2003

Climate

Spain has a Mediterranean climate in the southern and eastern coastal areas as well as a temperate climate further inland. The central Meseta has hot summers and cold winters, while the southern regions at the foot of the mountains have the warmest winter temperatures in mainland Europe. On the Atlantic coast summers are not as hot with temperatures and rainfall decreasing inland. Average annual precipitation in the north and northwest is 890 mm (35 inches) or more and the Meseta receives between 305 mm to 635 mm (12 to 25 inches) annually. Average temperature ranges in Madrid are from 1 to 8 degrees Celsius (34 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 17 to 31 degrees Celsius (63 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit) in July.

Culture

Widely known for Flamenco music and dance, bullfights, fantastic beaches and lots of sunshine, Spain has much more to offer than that. It is-and has been for thousands of years-one of the cultural centres of Europe. "Spain is different!", Spaniards use to say. They don't specify compared to what: to the rest of Europe, to the rest of the world, or even to itself ? We don't know either, but we do our best to supply you with lots of information so you can find the answer to this question and many others by yourself. Spain has an extraordinary artistic heritage. The dominant figures of the golden age were the Toledo-based artists El Greco and Diego Velasquez. Francisco Goya emerged in the 18th century as Spain\\\'s most prolific painter and he produced some wonderfully unflattering portraits of royalty. The art world in the early 20th century was influenced by a remarkable group of Spanish artists: Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí. [EUROYOUTH.- ag.Portugal] Spain's architecture ranges from prehistoric monuments in Minorca in the Balearic Islands, through to the Roman ruins of Mérida and Tarragona, the decorative Lonja in Seville, Mudéjar buildings, Gothic cathedrals, castles, fantastic modernist monuments and Gaudí's intricate fabulist sculptures. The guitar was invented in Andalusia in the 1790s when a sixth string was added to the Moorish lute. It gained its modern shape in the 1870s. Spanish musicians have taken the humble guitar to dizzying heights of virtuosity and none more so than Andrés Segovia (1893-1997), who established classical guitar as a genre. Flamenco, music rooted in the cante jondo (deep song) of the gitanos (gypsies) of Andalusia, is experiencing a revival. Paco de Lucia is the best known flamenco guitarist internationally.   His friend El Camarón de la Isla was, until his death in 1992, the leading light of contemporary cante hondo. In the 1980s flamenco-rock fusion (a.k.a. "gypsy rock") was developed by the likes of Pata Negra and Ketama, and in the 1990s Radio Tarifa emerged with a mesmerizing mix of flamenco and medieval sounds.   The official language is Castilian Spanish with 17% of the population speaking Catalan while 7% speak Galician, 2% speak Basque and the remainder speak Castilian. Other minority languages include Asturian.

Travel agents

Please, contact your travel agency. Also at www.google.com  there are a lot of agencies to find.

Accommodation

Please, contact your travel agency. Also at www.google.com  there are a lot of agencies to find.

Public traffic

Flying Spain's Iberia Airlines, which is state-operated, covers all air transport within Spain and from Spain to points abroad: its subsidiary, Aviaco (Maudes 51, Madrid) covers solely Spanish domestic routes Tel: (91) 554-3600 and 305 8685/4063 Iberia provides 200 reservation outlets. There are also 4,000 sales outlets in authorised travel agencies. Iberia has offices in the principal countries around the world. Its main office is at Calle Velazquez, 130, 28006 Madrid. Information, Tel: (91) 411 2545. Reservations, tel: (91) 411 1011/5639966. The Spanish airports open to international traffic are: Alicante, Almeria, Aviles, Barcelona, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Girona, Granada, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Corunna, Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Madrid-Barajas, Malaga, Melilla, Menorca, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Reus (Tarragona), San Sebastian, Santander, Santiago de Compostela (Corunna) Seville, Tenerife-Norte, Tenerife-Sur, Valencia, Vigo, Vitoria and Zaragoza.    Railways The Spanish state-operated railway network consists of a total of 13,000 kilometres of tracks, covering the entire country. The state-run company RENFE covers an ample number of domestic lines that connect all the regions on the Iberian Peninsula. Spanish trains, the most inexpensive in Europe, have two classes. RENFE has established a series of special prices and discounts that make travelling by rail in Spain that much more convenient. The most interesting offers are the following: The so-called "Dias Azules" (Blue Days) are dates that do not generally coincide with holidays, the eves of holidays or the most common holiday periods. There are many such dates throughout the year on which it is possible to travel by rail with a 50% discount. The "Tarjeta Joven" (Youth Card) allows the bearer, whose age must be between 12 and 25, to travel with a 50% discount on all tickets providing that travelling dates coincide with the "Blue Days". The "Tarjeta Turistica" (Tourist Card), reserved for non-residents of Spain, independent of their nationality, allows unrestricted circulation, without kilometre limitation, on any RENFE line, without having to pay supplements. This card may be for either first or second class travel and its price varies depending on the duration of travel time requested, which may be 3, 5 or 10 days. The "Euro- Railpass" (Eurail Pass) is also a discount ticket reserved for visiting guests. It can be purchased in the country of origin and provides unlimited travel rights on any date, on any line, without supplements. Its price also varies according to duration, which can be 15, 25, 30, 60, or 90 days. Besides the regular trains and sleeper cars, RENFE has recently inaugurated the AVE, a high speed train linking Madrid and Seville in a time of three hours, as well as series of special trains, of particular interest to the tourist. The most outstanding is the so-called "Expreso Al.Andalus" (Al Andalus Express) which departs from Seville each week and for 5 days tours the beautiful cities of Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga, and Jerez de la Frontera. The price of the ticket includes the visits to these cities, meals at the finest restaurants in each one, "fiestas" and typical shows plus dinner and lodging on a truly special train that includes a discotheque, video room, bars and the luxury and comfort of the finest hotel. Another tourist train with similar characteristics is the "Transcantabrico" which tours the north of Spain. For information call RENFE, tel: (91) 530 0202, (93) 4900202 and for reservations call (91) 527 3333 in Madrid.    Road Travel People in Spain drive on the right hand side of the road. Spain has a road network measuring 317,000 kilometres of which 2,000 are relatively recent motorways. The most important motor ways are: the Mediterranean coastal road from the French border to Alicante, and the one linking the Cantabrian region with Cataluña. The use of the Spanish motorways usually requires paying a toll, which can be calculated on the basis of the type of vehicle in question and the distance to be travelled. There are numerous petrol stations along the way and bars, restaurants and commercial establishments.

Insurance

For peace of mind when doing your internship in Spain, European citizens need to bring their proof of health insurance, the E-111 or E-128 form, and the Liability Insurance that covers personal liability.

Useful Phone Numbers:

Useful Phone Numbers
Telephone Information	11888
Emergencias Sanitarias	061
Free emergency number  (Hospital, Police, etc.)	112
Credit Cards
American Express	91 5720303
Visa Nacional, Eurocard, Mastercharge	93 3152512

Language courses:

If you are going to do a placement in the Spain, you might want to take Spanish language courses. Even if you will do some of your work in English or another language, most of your colleages will probably be Spanish and speak Spanish to each other. Moreover, you will not only work in Spain, you will also live there. At work people will probably understand you, but once you step outside the office Spanish is a must. You can decide to do a full time language-course before starting your internship. You can also have 1 or 2 courses per week in the evenings during your internship. For both options we advise you to ask your employer what he can do for you. All big cities in Spain have many language schools at all levels. You can also contact the nearest University. Usually Universities have Spanish courses for their exchange students.

For more information about Spanish language schools in Spain you can look at the following websites:

http://www.tricolore.nl/

http://www.alhambra-instituto.org/
http://www.babylon-idiomas.com/
http://www.mediterraneocentre.com/