The Cathedral of Salamanca

The province of Salamanca is located in the southwest corner of Castile & León directly bordering Portugal. It is located about 2 and a half hours north west of Madrid and about 4 hours to the nearest beach. Gold-hued Salamanca is also one of many dazzling UNESCO World Heritage sites in Spain. It is home to two grand cathedrals, spectacular Renaissance palaces, beautiful plazas and one of the oldest universities in Europe.

The city is large enough (180.000 inhabitants) to be able to offer the advantages of a real city, but at the same time it keeps the intimacy of a village. Salamanca has played an important role in the history of the Spanish (Castilian) language. For this reason Salamanca is enormously popular with people all over the world who want to learn Spanish. It is very easy to meet people because the city is fairly small and attainable and you can go practically everywhere on foot. You don't have to make rendezvous as you are bound to see everyone in the Plaza Mayor, one of the finest squares in Spain and known as the living room of the Salamantinos. As there is such a varied range of nationalities, it is tempting to keep to fellow don Quijote students. Salamanca is however, a real university city, Spanish students are everywhere and there are plenty of places full of Spaniards. The area around Salamanca also offers many facilities for cultural and sporting day-trips to villages, the mountains or to the many lakes.

Plaza Mayor

Plaza Anaya

Fiestas and celebrations in Salamanca

The vast majority of celebrations in Salamanca have, as everywhere in Spain, a religious background. One of the most special celebration in Salamanca is "El Lunes de Aguas" ("Water Monday"). On this day, the last of an eight-day religious celebrations at Easter, the inhabitants of Salamanca meet at the shores of the River Tormes in what is essentially a huge picnic. They say that this tradition dates back to 1570, during the reign of King Felipe II. During the year there are many more festivals and festivities of which the September "Ferias y Fiestas de San Mateo" are the most spectacular. For two weeks there is a fully organized program of concerts, parades, exhibitions and markets. They are not to be missed!

OTHER FIESTAS No nation on earth is quite as good at enjoying itself as Spain. There are so many fiestas that even if you could attend more than one a day you would not be able to see them all.