8 DAYS IN SPAIN FOR FREE?
An actual way to spend 8 days in Spain for free. You just need to get yourself to Madrid, and your 8 day trip is covered. The first in a special travel series.
Hola Friends!
Coming to you today with the first in a travel series with unique (and sometimes free!) travel opportunities around the world.
Today’s feature takes us to Spain, where I’ll tell you about an amazing opportunity to spend a week as an English speaking volunteer. Your meals and lodging are covered.
Your only job (and cost) is to get yourself to Madrid and maybe put yourself up in a hotel there for 1-2 nights.
After that, you’ll spend 7 nights and 8 days in a charming Spanish village, make friends from all over the world, and perhaps change your life.
*Best of all, it’s free.*
Interested?
Before I tell you about it, know that this post isn’t sponsored. Everything I’m sharing is based on my experiences with Pueblo Inglés. (I’m a four-time alum.)
How to spend 8 days in Spain… for free.
Sound a little too good to be true? Maybe like a scam?
That’s what I thought in 2012 when I came across that headline after looking for an affordable (actually free) way to travel to Spain. I had some airline miles to use, so I was hoping to get my room and board covered during my summer break from teaching middle school.
While that notion seemed like a long shot, I Googled:
A place called Pueblo Inglés (English Village) came up with the promise of paid room and board in a charming Spanish village.
The catch? Native English speakers needed to get themselves to Madrid and then be prepared for a talkathon of sorts - eight days of immersing Spaniards in English.
Translation, get ready to talk.
I was intrigued, yet skeptical - because you never know, right?
Again, I turned to Google, this time searching for:
I found a bunch of articles about the program (a good indicator that it actually existed) and contacted a few of the writers to check if they were real and if so, get their thoughts on the program.
I discovered Pueblo Inglés was indeed legit, and actually amazing.
One person called it “life changing.”
Another told me it was “The real deal and maybe Spain’s best-kept secret.”
(Fyi, Pueblo Inglés has programs for adults and teens.)
And in case you’re wondering, you don’t have to speak a lick of Spanish to be a volunteer there.
In fact, Spanish is banned.
Yes, that’s right, there is no Spanish allowed once you begin the program. That’s because the Spaniards are paying to be immersed in English.
I decided the opportunity was worth further investigation, so I asked a fellow teacher friend if she wanted to check it out with me. She was in, so we applied for the program, were accepted, and made plans to attend the last week in July 2012.
Here’s how the program works.
Go to puebloinglés.com and head to their “Volunteer Zone.” The specifics of the program are listed there, as well as the 2025 Calendar Dates.
Request more information and if it seems like something you’re interested in, go ahead and apply for it.
Once you get accepted, it’s time to make your flight reservations. Since the program begins on a Friday, I recommend getting there on Wednesday (Thursday at the latest) so that you have time to get over jet lag. There is a welcome reception on Thursday before the program, which is a great chance to meet other English volunteers and ask any last-minute questions.
Friday morning - all participants (English speakers and Spaniards) will meet at the Pueblo Inglés office in Madrid (it’s very easy to find) to get on the bus headed for their venue. The minute everyone steps on the bus, there’s one rule: no Spanish is allowed.
A few hours later, you’ll arrive at your venue, where you’ll spend three meals a day and the time in between talking with your new friends. Don’t worry about “teaching formal lessons” or having to come up with material. The program guides give the English volunteers phrasal verbs, idioms, and other English expressions, plus conversation starters to get the conversations started and you’ll be paired up with different Spaniards throughout the day. It’s all well organized and so much fun.
You do get free time in the afternoon, at which point you can relax by the pool, stroll through the village, take a siesta, or catch up on emails.
Note - there are other locations for Pueblo Inglés other than La Alberca, and they do have a program in Germany as well.
Questions?
Send me an email or leave a question in the comments! If I can’t answer it, I’ll find someone who can.
And, here are some pics from La Alberca, a few more details, plus giving a shoutout to other programs similar to Pueblo Inglés.
A couple more facts…
After my first experience in 2012, I went on to repeat the program four times and also did Pueblo Español - the reverse of Pueblo Inglés, where I was the one immersed in a language… Spanish.
It was during those trips to Pueblo Inglés and Pueblo Español that I met some of my dearest friends, heard about the Camino de Santiago, got the courage to run my own retreat, and continued to live out my lifelong dream of frequent travel to Spain.
The takeaway? I’m so glad I took a leap and tried something new.
If this sounds like something you might want to do, I suggest you go for it!
If the dates for Pueblo Inglés don’t work for you, there are other companies who do similar programs like Estación Inglesa and Vaughan Town.
ENDING ON A SERIOUS NOTE:
When I used the title (in a dramatic all-caps kind of way), “8 DAYS IN SPAIN FOR FREE?” I thought I might get the attention of Spain lovers, travelers, adventure seekers, or people looking for a great deal. For me, I’d click on anything with Spain in the title.
But, if I’d read a similar title with “8 DAYS IN LONDON FOR FREE?” I’d have been like, uh, no thanks. London doesn’t do it for me.
So, if all of my Spain business has you thinking, yeah, sounds great, but… no, gracias… I get it.
But the truth is, I wasn’t really wanting to get into it about Spain, but rather ask the question…
What do you want to do?
We all have something… or some things… that reside in the “someday, maybe…” section of our souls.
The problem is, the longer we go on not pursuing our dreams, the less likely it becomes that we’ll ever actually pursue them.
That’s because we think they’re impossible because we don’t have the time, money, wherewithal, you name it… to go through with it. Also likely, we tell our dream to someone, and they either outright or subtly tell us our idea isn’t a good one. This isn’t because these people are bad - it’s simply because our dreams are our dreams… and no one else will think they’re as important to pursue as we do.
So how about we start getting the wheels in motion toward pursuing our dreams?
For me, it started by asking a question - How can I travel to Spain for free?
For you, it will be different.
Do me a favor and start asking the question, or questions, that will give you clarity on how you can achieve your dreams.
Put your request in…and go ahead and start asking questions that will show you how that dream can come true. Ask God. The Universe. Perplexity. Chat GPT. Alexa. Siri. Google. Your guru. Your dog. Ask everyone and anyone.
If one search comes up empty, reframe the question.
Sooner or later, you'll get clues on how that dream can happen.
But we’ve got to stick with it.
Otherwise, those dreams will only come true between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. And I hate to remind you, but you don’t get airline points by flying in your dreams.
Let’s go for the real deal, friends.
Dream big.
Abbey
