Secret of the harem
Its inhabitants are proud that their country has everything in the world: snowy mountains and desert, rivers, sea and ocean, oranges and relict cork trees. There are places where, after sunbathing on the beach and dipping into the warm turquoise water, within a couple of hours you can put on skis. In Spain, with its long and whimsical history, Moorish minarets, Catholic cathedrals and pompous palaces of the era of Charles V's empire peacefully coexist.
The country is not without reason called an open-air museum. It is all shrouded in legends. So, according to legend, Seville was founded by Hercules. He also separated Europe from Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar, creating the Mediterranean Sea. In gratitude, the Spaniards placed his image on the green-and-white flag of Andalusia, the southernmost province of Spain.
This land attracted many - Greeks, Romans, Arabs, who stayed longer than others. They left behind many architectural masterpieces, among them the exquisitely beautiful palace complex of the Alhambra in Granada. In it, Eastern rulers wanted to embody their ideas of paradise as a luxurious garden with murmuring fountains and palaces of precious stones. The Arab trace can also be found in national dishes. For example, by the names of desserts prepared according to old recipes - "Allah's dream", "secret of the harem" - one can understand that they were borrowed from the Arabs.
Along with this, Spain also has one of the largest Christian churches in the world - the Cathedral, which is inferior in area only to St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London. It is located in Seville, the capital of Andalusia, and its construction was completed in 1401. The body of Christopher Columbus rests there. At the time, Queen Isabella of Castile pawned her personal jewelry to equip Columbus's expedition in search of America. When the great navigator died, his remains were transported to Spain. Columbus, a native of Genoa, did not want to be buried in Spanish soil. But a way out was found: the coffin was placed not on the ground but on four supports in the form of figures of four kings representing Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Leon. There is a belief: if you rub the shoe of the left figure with your fingers, it acts as a love potion, the right one - as a repellent. You don't even need to look closely to see that both shoes are worn equally.
By the way, it was in Seville that world-famous artists Velazquez and Murillo were born, and lived the aristocrat Don Miguel Manara, who served as the prototype of Don Juan. And it was in the Seville prison, where Cervantes ended up because he failed to protect government money, that the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance, Don Quixote, arose in his imagination.
But the "Barber of Seville" never visited Seville: Beaumarchais invented him while in Madrid, where his sisters lived. The French playwright placed his character in the capital of Andalusia because it has always been famous for gaiety, humor, and dynamism. It is no coincidence that the rebellious gypsy beauty Carmen also lived here. As they say in Spain, "Seville is not a geographical name, but a way of life."
Expansive Spaniards generally like to give their cities flowery characteristics. Resorts have sonorous names - Costa Brava, Costa del Sol. The city of Cordoba, thanks to a Spanish poet, is called the solemn flower of Spain, Salamanca - the golden city, and about Madrid they say that it is one step from paradise. The beauty of the homeland and its people, the charm of picturesque streets and courtyards that dispose to bliss and dreams during the siesta hour, was sung in his poems by Federico Garcia Lorca.
Every Spanish province and even every city has its own face. Take Catalonia, for example. Its capital Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain. This name is associated with the atmosphere of medieval castles and knightly tournaments and bullfighting on the Monumental bullring. The Spanish singer Montserrat Caballe lives here. Nikolai Baskov regularly appears in Barcelona, taking singing lessons from her.
But for many, Catalonia is primarily the world of Salvador Dali, the great surrealist, master of phantasmagoria, who perfected the art of outrageousness. The small town of Figueres is full of tourists because the Dali Theatre-Museum is located there. For those who know little about this man, the museum leaves them bewildered, while Dali himself insisted during his lifetime that nothing should be explained to visitors. For example, a portrait of Beethoven is painted with octopus ink, and the monument to Newton has a hole in the head - interpret it as you like. By the way, there you can touch with your hands the "Cadillac" of the great surrealist, which previously belonged to the mafia king Al Capone.
As for Granada, its main calling card is its special youthful atmosphere: after all, every sixth resident of the city is a student. And in Madrid, despite the abundance of attractions, the highlight is, of course, the movida (although no one can exactly explain the meaning of this word). Outside the country it is understood without translation - tourists have spread the glory of Madrid's movida all over the world. Movida is everything that moves, shifts, seethes. In other words, it is a carefree, cheerful nightlife, entertainment, discos and cafes open all night long.
Spain is a feeling of eternal celebration. Unsurprisingly, guests from all over the world flock to this firework display like moths. Spain receives more than 6% of all world tourism income and ranks third in the number of foreigners visiting it. Recently, among them the share of those who come to Spain to study is growing.
This interest is understandable: after all, the country has created all the conditions for obtaining a quality education. It is worth noting that it ranks seventh in the world in the number of students per 100,000 people. Spain strives to do everything to make its guests live, study and relax pleasantly and comfortably.
It should be said that despite their seeming carefree and cheerful disposition, Spaniards greatly respect any striving for knowledge, and they perceive the label “bluestocking” not as an offensive nickname but as a compliment. Perhaps this is partly why they are especially hospitable to those who come to them to gain wisdom. The country's existing infrastructure allows foreigners to study Spanish and receive a quality university education.
Elevator Up
Spain's education system is structured very clearly and resembles an elevator going upward. Along the way it makes stops. At each stop, some passengers get off, while the rest continue. We will be interested in the stops where our students can get on the elevator.
Let's start with the fact that among Spain's more than 21,000 primary and secondary schools, there are both state and private ones, and among the latter there are a number of boarding schools. Theoretically, quite small children can be sent there. But is there any point? As a rule, parents (or the children themselves) aim for further admission to a Spanish university. It follows that it is more advantageous to enter a Spanish school at the stage when they prepare children for university. What stage is that?
It should be borne in mind that compulsory secondary education (educacion secundaria obligatoria) is designed for schoolchildren up to 16 years old, after which they move to the next stage (educacion secundaria post-obligatoria). The elevator has stopped: some children will go on to receive vocational-technical education, while others will continue their ascent to the bachelor's diploma by entering the bachillerato - not to be confused with the international university bachelor's degree! Bachillerato is a two-year preparation for university. It is at this stop that a child should get on the elevator.
The students will have the opportunity to choose one of four areas of study: natural sciences or medicine, humanities and social sciences, natural sciences or technology. There is also a number of subjects that are mandatory for all areas. Knowledge is assessed on a 10-point system, with a score of “five” or higher considered satisfactory. Those who fail exams in several subjects are kept back for a second year.
Obtaining the bachelor's diploma, in principle, makes it possible to enter university. But it should be borne in mind that Spanish universities have great autonomy and may impose their own conditions. For example, some universities consider the bachillerato level insufficient and require the applicant to additionally take a specialized pre-university course, Curso de Orientacion Universitaria (COU).
Of course, it is not at all necessary to put a child on the Spanish elevator at the bachillerato floor; he can calmly get his secondary school certificate at home, simultaneously learning the language at a special school or in courses, and then apply to a Spanish university. Theoretically this is possible. But only theoretically.
The difficulty lies in the fact that all applicants — both Spaniards and foreigners — regardless of which university they are applying to, are required to take the entrance exam Prueba de Accesso a la Universidad, or SeIectividad. In this respect, Spain differs significantly from most other foreign countries. Selectividad is a comprehensive exam designed to reveal the overall level of educational preparation of the future student. It includes both compulsory subjects and those chosen by the applicant (humanities or technical track, depending on the university).
Selectividad also serves to check how well a foreign applicant commands Spanish.
How to Get a Ten
Don't delude yourself: preparing for this exam on your own is very difficult. If the bachillerato option did not work out, most likely you will have to use another opportunity — enrolling in Spanish preparatory courses for foreign applicants. There, young people are specifically trained to pass Selectividad. The duration of the courses varies, from three months to two years — depending on the applicant's level of preparation. The study program is compiled individually for each applicant. Minors may be provided with a guardian.
Two more ways to successfully storm Selectividad were suggested to us by a company that helps parents send children to study in Spain: “You can enroll in a Spanish private college that prepares for this exam, which will cost (with accommodation and meals) 7,000 euros a year. The 'ultimate' — the same training course at an English boarding school. It will cost twice as much, but the children will receive a double education — in English and Spanish, under both English and Spanish programs. It all depends on what further educational path parents have mapped out for their sons and daughters.”
So, the entrance exam is passed, and you have a certain number of points to your credit. Now you will have to look for a university where this result is a passing score. Some of the most prestigious faculties admit only excellent students with “tens,” while in other cases the conditions can be very lenient: modest “fives” will be enough.
The last chance to jump on the elevator is to transfer to a Spanish university from a domestic one (losing a year). By the way, this option is not that difficult. But there are some conditions: you can transfer only after passing the second session and only from full-time studies, and the field of study in our country must roughly correspond to where the transfer is planned. You must command the Spanish language — although it will not be checked upon admission, it is not examiners who will study in it!
Naturally, foreigners are accepted into both master's and doctoral programs. Some of them are offered in English.
Following the Crown Prince's Example
Now, perhaps, it is worth getting acquainted with those educational institutions we are so eager to enter. Today there are more than 60 universities in Spain ready to accept foreigners. The vast majority of universities are state-run; they offer an excellent classical education at prices that, compared with the average European level, can rather be called symbolic (800-1,000 euros per year). At private universities, tuition is several times more expensive, but they offer new professions for which there will remain high demand for a long time.
Traditionally, universities are strong in teaching history, philosophy, physics, and the arts. Among new courses, information technology, biomechanics, hotel management, ecology, and tourism are particularly popular.
Members of the Spanish royal family studied at Spanish universities (if that is not a mark of quality!). Thus, King Juan Carlos I was a student at the University of Madrid in 1960-1961, where he studied constitutional and international law, economics, and taxation. Infanta Elena Maria, the eldest daughter of the royal couple, obtained a master's degree in pedagogy at Comillas University in Madrid, while the younger daughter, Infanta Cristina, studied political science at Madrid's Complutense University. As for Crown Prince Felipe, he studied law and economics at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Academic degrees awarded in Spain have names different from those customary in higher education in many other countries.
The distinctive structure of the country's universities sets them apart from European and American ones. They comprise four types of academic units. These are university faculties (facultades universitarias), where one can study all disciplines except technical ones. After three years of study, one receives the degree of certified specialist - Diplomado, and with further study, degrees of the next levels of higher education (analogues of master's, doctor of sciences). There are also higher technical schools (escuelas technicas superiores), which provide the opportunity to obtain the same degrees. In addition, there are university schools with a professional orientation (by the way, they conduct a selection of documents and personal files, without exams) and university colleges that provide first-level higher education (bachelor's).
V as victoria
Universidad de Salamanca is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in 1218. It is said that at first it competed with Oxford for a long time. People who became the pride of Spain sat on its benches - Cervantes, Calderón, Lope de Vega. Many legends and traditions are associated with this university. For example, an old omen said that only a newcomer who found a frog hidden in the ornament on the facade would pass the exam successfully. Another legend explains how bullfighting appeared in Spain. If you enter the inner courtyard of the university, you immediately notice that the walls are covered with red letters V (victoria, victory). In the Middle Ages, this mark was left by those who received a doctorate. A student who had proven his worth in the sciences also had to prove that he had become a real man, and for this, kill a bull. Those who succeeded placed the victorious sign V on the wall with the blood of the slain animal. However, it happened that it was not the bull that died, but a man. Since education was very expensive and graduates were valued like gold, they were allowed to buy a stand-in who fought the bull for money. That is how bullfighting came about.
One of the best universities in Spain is also considered to be the University of Madrid, which comprises 19 faculties, the Higher School of Computer Science, six university schools, 30 institutes, and 12 schools of professional specialization. Such young universities as Seville and Valencia also rank among the prestigious ones.
In Barcelona there is ESADE University, which is among the top ten European universities and business schools. ESADE, where instruction is given in Spanish and English, has faculties of economics and law, as well as a tourism department and a school of foreign languages. ESADE is a center for administering the D.E.L.E. exam, which certifies that a foreigner is fluent in Spanish. Also in Barcelona is the Euroaula Higher School of Tourism, established at the University of Girona. Specializations: hotel business and catering management, travel companies, consultant and guide (media in tourism). Students study subjects such as the structure of the tourism market, introduction to economics, fundamentals of law, accounting, hotel structure and equipment, and others. Two foreign languages are also studied. Students undergo internships in hotels and travel agencies. Euroaula also offers professional development and retraining courses in areas such as introduction to the Internet, informatics and office management, ecological tourism, tourist entertainment programs, protocol and etiquette, applied informatics, and others.
A second higher education can also be obtained at the University of Granada. Hotel and tourism business, international law, and world economics are in particular demand.
Language will bring you to Barcelona
Given the growing demand among foreigners for learning Spanish (and today the number of such far-sighted people in the world is approaching one million), Spain has created an extensive network of language schools. There are several hundred of them. There are certain language learning standards defined by the Instituto Cervantes. A single standard of Spanish proficiency for all foreigners is confirmed by the D.E.L.E. diploma (Diploma de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera); to obtain it, one must pass a special exam for which all good language schools prepare students. They, by the way, strive to outdo each other in variety: some focus on advanced courses such as Spanish for lawyers, tourism managers, and businesspeople. Others offer their students sports and horseback riding in their free time, or entertain them with excursions, dances, and yacht trips.
In general, finding a suitable option is not difficult. The main thing is that in Spain even the most boring cramming turns into a celebration, and in university cities life resembles an eternal youth hangout. One word - movida!