Over spring break, a group of students enrolled in Spanish 2, 3, and 4 toured Madrid, Granada, and Seville, Spain for a week, along with teachers Igxie Rivera, Alberto Rivera, Kristina Renaud, and Elizabeth Padilla.

While in Madrid, they completed a walking tour, visited the Prado, the second largest art museum in the world and explored an open air market. Several students’ most memorable experience was visiting IES Gomez Moreno, a bilingual secondary school. The institute educates the equivalent of grades 7-12 and gives an optional bilingual program to its students.

The more advanced English students use English in the classroom for up to five hours a day, compared to Plant students’ optional one-hour elective class.

“I thought it was interesting how they take some of their normal classes in English to learn the language better,” Liana Fussell, sophomore, said. “Overall, these students had an advantage over us because their school was bilingual.”

“My favorite part of [the city] was going to the Real Madrid game,” Dylan Power, sophomore, said. Some students chose to attend Spain’s premier sporting event: professional soccer. “Everyone was really into it. There was a lot of screaming and cheering across the whole stadium. It’s such a big deal there,” Leah Dosal, junior, said.

After taking a train to Granada, they were guided on a sightseeing tour and visited Alhambra, a fortress with architecture famous for its Islamic influences. Alhambra was later converted into a royal palace. “My favorite part of the trip was visiting Granada because the scenery was beautiful and it was very historic-looking,” Lindsay Lopez, sophomore, said.

The next day, a bus took them northeast to Seville, but not before stopping at an olive oil farm to sample fresh extra virgin olive oil. In the heart of the city, they toured a bull fighting ring and were educated on the historical importance of the traditional spectacle, as well as visiting the royal palace of Seville, Allcazar de Seville.  At night, they attended a cultural flamenco performance.