Humans are full of prejudices. Although this can be negative, it’s something that helps us to categorize and understand the world in a faster and easier way. No one is completely free from stereotypes, but in Spain, we often complain that the way other countries see us doesn’t always correspond to reality, nor can it be extended to all regions and cultures living together within our borders.

The influence that Hollywood has exerted on the image we have of other cultures has played a leading role. The stereotypes about Spain seen in American series and films have spread common misperceptions about Spaniards: we all love napping, soccer, bullfighting, and flamenco. In this way, our special traditions are not always understood as well as we would like.

In today's post, we take the opportunity to share with you some of the most famous film scenes that have created false myths about Spain.

You can continue reading in Spanish if you’d like to practice your reading comprehension.

Mission Impossible II

To begin with, let’s look at one of the best known and extravagant examples: Mission Impossible II. In the film, Tom Cruise lives a unique experience: Holy Week in Seville, the Fallas in Valencia, and San Fermines in Pamplona, ​​all together in the same scene. (In fact, not only do these festivals take place in different cities, they also happen at different times during the year.) Anthony Hopkins (Swanbeck in the film) himself is amazed and puzzled at such a spectacle: "Festivals are a pain in the ass. Honoring their saints by setting them on fire. Let's you know what they think of saints, doesn't it?” We Spaniards were even more perplexed at these tremendous cultural misconceptions. (For the record, saints are not burned in any of the three separate festivals untruthfully mixed together here.)

McGyver and the Basque conflict

In the first season of the MacGyver series, we can see a very original, and hilariously inaccurate, representation of the people living in the Basque Country. This action hero of the 80s fights against some mountaineers wearing the traditional Basque txapela hat; or as they’re referred to in the episode, "Basque mountain men who’d been feuding with France or Spain for as long as anyone can remember." The departure from the truth is such that the village looks more like a military jungle camp than anything else. In addition, the series shows bananas being grown there, very common in the Basque Pyrenees (note the sarcasm). And of course, you could not miss the “typical” local clothing, which, according to the series, is no more than a loincloth.

Knight & Day

Oops, he did it again! Tom Cruise messed about with Spanish traditional festivals once more. On this occasion, he and Cameron Díaz attend very peculiar bull runs or encierros and run in front of a herd of eight steers and two placid bulls. In addition, this recreation of the San Fermines of Pamplona was actually filmed on Calle Ancha street in Cadiz, and (due to the script's demands) ended in the Maestranza bull ring in Seville.

Vantage Point

It is often said that Americans think Spain is like any country in Latin America. But in this particular case, the film makers of Vantage Point took this too far. The film shows the U.S. president’s visit to Salamanca, where he will be a terrorist target. The movie supposedly takes place in Salamanca, Spain but when local authorities refused to accept the conditions of the producer (who wanted the city to close access to Plaza Mayor for three months), the shooting moved to Mexico. For anyone who’s ever been to Spain, just by looking at the scenery and the people it’s very obvious that the movie was filmed somewhere else entirely (halfway around the world, in fact!)

If you want to learn more about Spanish and film, we encourage you watch this video with some of the funniest Spanish translations of classic movie titles.

Fiesta time in Barcelona

For many, September is a time to say goodbye to summer and head back to school or work. However, people in Barcelona have something spectacular that softens the blow of returning to the daily grind: their biggest celebration of the year. 

During the La Mercè festival, the streets of Barcelona fill with gigantes, concerts, exhibitions, and, of course, traditional human towers called castellers.

Continue reading in English or click here to change to Spanish version and fully immerse yourself in the modernism, international ambiance, and vast cultural agenda Barcelona offers its visitors during this special time.

The origins of the festival

As we explained in our article about the different types of Spanish fiestas, many cities and towns dedicate their biggest yearly celebration to their patron saint. La Mercè, or the Virgin of Mercy, is the patron saint of Barcelona. Do you know how she got that title?

According to legend, around the year 1200, the Virgin appeared to three important people: King James I of Aragon, Saint Peter Nolasco, and Saint Raymond of Panyafort. She asked them to create a new monastic order to face the attacks of the Saracens during wartime.

Centuries later, when Barcelona was suffering a terrible locust infestation, the people asked the Virgin of Mercy for help. When the infestation was eradicated, the city named La Mercè patron saint of Barcelona in thanks for her protection.

La Mercè Program

At La Mercè, the program is so varied that everyone finds their own place. Each year, it is a tradition that a guest city is responsible for organizing some activities in collaboration with the City of Barcelona. The starting signal for the festivities is usually given by a famous person from the Spanish scene: politicians, painters, illustrators, artists, mayors...

Below, you will find some of the most striking proposals that are celebrated during the festivities of La Mercè in Barcelona:

Live music

One of this festival’s strong points is the free outdoor concerts. Parc del Fòrum, Plaza de Cataluña, the area around Montjuïc, and Plaza Real are just a few of the spots you can check out to enjoy Spanish music, or Catalan music, depending on the artist.

As every year, the program varies and different artists perform in the streets of Barcelona. Singers and groups of the Spanish and international music scene come together with their fans to liven up the festivities of La Mercè. In previous years, artists such as Miki Núñez, Carlos Sadness, Carlos Baute or Chloe Philips have filled the stages with music.

You can not miss it! Maybe one of your favorite artists will be in the program.

Street shows

During the day, Ciudadela Park will be filled with street performers specialized in theater, dance, juggling, and other disciplines. Gigantes and cabezudos (impressive costumed figures with enormous papier-mâché heads) will be roaming the city squares, and there will be no lack of typical sardana dancing and the traditional castellers (pictured above).

When the sun goes down, light and fire take over the streets. Correfocs (fire-runs) and ball de diables (devil dances) light up the night with sparks and fireworks. Plaza de Sant Jaume is one of the best places to enjoy these spectacular events. If you’re a fan of photography, don’t miss this opportunity to capture these utterly unique moments.

You can also enjoy a pyromusical show at the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc. If you can’t get enough of the beach even in September, Barceloneta Beach is a good viewing point for fireworks shows all week long.

Exhibitions

The street program of La Mercè goes hand in hand with a cultural agenda of the most careful. So, during these festivities, you can access in its open day to historical buildings and monuments such as the Monastery of Pedralbes, the Picasso Museum or the Palau de la Generalitat. Check the schedule to find out which day is free to enter all these emblematic places of the city.

In addition, we encourage you to visit the Centro Cultural del Born, where you will find the most interesting exhibitions.

So do not hesitate, if you want to discover the city of Barcelona from the inside, we invite you to come during the best week of the year to do so. Take advantage of your stay to take any of our Spanish courses at donQuijote school, learn Spanish in Barcelona and let yourself be surprised by the festivities of La Mercè.

Today’s Spanish grammar topic is gender and number agreement. Let’s jump right in!

Read this grammar guide in Spanish.

Gender and Adjective Agreement in Spanish

Examples:

• La escuela [femenino singular] es bonita [femenino singular]
• Los manuales [masculino plural] son prácticos [masculino plural]
• Los estudiantes [masculino plural] son simpáticos [masculino plural]
• El café [masculino singular] es barato [masculino singular]

Examples:

• Mi compañero es muy amable
• Nuestro profesor es budista
• Mozart fue un músico precoz
• El animal salvaje más peligroso de África es el búfalo

Variable adjectives: these adjectives become female by adding -a. They can be divided into two groups:

1. Masculine adjectives that end in -o, -ete, or -ote

Examples:

• Ending in -o: bonito/-a; feo/-a; cansado/-a
• Ending in -ete: regordete/-a; guapete/-a;
• Ending in -ote: grandote/-a; malote/-a

1. Masculine adjectives that end in a consonant

Examples:

• Trabajador/-a; andaluz/-a; chillón/-a

Number and Adjective Agreement in Spanish

• Examples: precoz/(c)-es; azul/-es

• By adding  -s: for adjectives that end in a vowel, when the last syllable is unstressed
  • Examples: bueno/-s; bonito/-s; barato/-s
• By adding -es: for adjectives that end in a vowel when the last syllable is stressed, or adjectives that end in a consonant
  • Examples: ceutí/-es; ideal/-es

Need some practice? Travel to Spain and Latin America to learn Spanish and see the world.

Thanks to Lucas from our school in Seville for teaching us how adjectives work in Spanish.

As the song says in Cinema Paradiso, "The life I dream of can come true. Or is it just a dream?” The magic of cinema has transformed some real-world Spanish settings into incredible imaginary worlds. We have seen, for example, how the desert of Almeria became the Wild West; the coast of Cadiz transformed into the exotic beaches of Cuba; and the spectacular Plaza de España in Seville turned into a planet from a galaxy far away.

It is true that many times the reasons have been economic, since it is cheaper to shoot in Spain than in other European or American countries. However, we cannot ignore the fact that Spain’s varied geography, warm climate, fascinating landscapes, and wealth of monuments have turned it into a marvelous movie set containing the perfect conditions for many film makers.

So, let’s get this show on the road!

Enjoy this post in Spanish to improve your reading skills.

1. Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

As mentioned above, the Sevillian Plaza de España is one of those cases. Not only was the square chosen by George Lucas to immortalize Amidala’s arrival to the planet Naboo in The Attack of the Clones, but we can also see it in other blockbusters shot in Seville. Other examples are the famous Game of Thrones series and the comedy The Dictator.

2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

In this case, the chosen place was Almeria. Steven Spielberg and his team shot several scenes of this famous film in the Tabernas desert, on Monsul beach, and also in Almeria’s capital.

3. Mission Impossible II (M:I-2) (2000)

The second part of this famous action saga was also filmed in Seville. This time the focus was on the Andalusian capital’s city center, where Tom Cruise stars in a scene full of cultural inaccuracies. We see an unnatural mixture of Spanish fiestas: Holy Week, Fallas, and the San Fermín festivities all happen in the same scene, when in reality these celebrations happen at different times of the year.

4. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

We must of course mention the most famous examples: the numerous Westerns filmed in Spain. Sergio Leone was one of the great directors who made it possible: A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965) were both filmed in Almeria. In these films, we had the opportunity to see the Tabernas desert turned into the wild American west. Also in Spain, the third part of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) was shot in the valley of the Arlanza river, in Burgos.

5. 007, Die Another Day (2002)

The most popular spy in the United Kingdom has also been to Spain. The breathtaking scene in which we see an impressive Halle Berry coming out of the water in Die Another Day, supposedly in Cuba, was actually filmed on La Caleta Beach, in Cadiz.

The famous 007 has been to Spain on other occasions: In The World Is Not Enough (1999), the filming was based around the world-famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao; in From Russia with Love (1963), the chosen place was Madrid; and, lastly, in Doctor Zhivago, Soria, Salamanca, Segovia, and Madrid appear.

Nevertheless, these are not all the movies ever filmed in Spain. The list is long, and many have been left out. Lawrence of Arabia, The Bourne Ultimatum, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Kingdom of Heaven, Perfume: Story of a Murderer, 55 days in Beijing, and even Kubrick’s Spartacus have also played a role in making Spain a star of the silver screen.

If you want to learn more about Spanish and film, we encourage you watch this video with some of the funniest Spanish translations of classic movie titles.

Latin America’s Top Writers According to Google

Birthdays are always a good reason to celebrate, and commemorating the birth of someone who’s done their part to enrich Hispanic culture is an even better one. Google is no stranger to this fact, which is why it has dedicated Doodles to some of the greatest literary figures of Latin America.

Do you know what a Google Doodle is? Would you like to take a graphics-based trip through the history of Latin American literature? Read on in English or click here to switch to the Spanish version of this article and we’ll tell you all about it.

What is a Doodle?

Google Doodles are the graphic modifications made to the Google logo to commemorate noteworthy holidays, anniversaries, and historical events. When you open Google, one day you might find a doodle announcing the discovery of water on the moon (2009), and another a musical game in honor of Johann Sebastian Bach (10 years later).

Since 1998, when the first Doodle was designed, the American tech giant has dedicated many of its creative logo variations to Spanish language literature. In today’s post, we’ll go chronologically through the brilliant minds that have earned their day in the digital spotlight: the best Latin American writers in history.

10 Doodles for 10 Latin American Authors

1. Rubén Darío

In 2003, Google celebrated the 146^th birthday of this Nicaraguan writer with a Doodle of a white swan, a memorable figure from one of his best-known poems. Swans are also the most representative symbol of the literary Modernist movement, a genre that Rubén Darío embraced so artfully that he became its leading figure.

2. Gabriela Mistral

Chile is a fertile ground for female authors. Along with her compatriot Isabel Allende, Gabriela Mistral is one of the few female writers whose name has gone down in history books. Thanks to poems like Dame la mano (Give Me Your Hand), featured in this 2015 Doodle, Gabriela became the first Ibero-American woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.

3. César Vallejo

Journalist, translator, and writer, César Vallejo has a powerful presence in the literary canon of his native Peru. On the 120^th anniversary of his birth, Google decided to celebrate the life and work of this Vanguardist icon with a Doodle. In it, César is sitting on a bench in Paris, a city he loved with all his soul and where he spent his final days.

4. Jorge Luis Borges

In the literature of Argentina, there is a name that shines brighter than all the rest: Jorge Luis Borges. His works, rich in philosophical undertones, are some of the most analyzed pieces of literature of the 20^th century. One of his most famous short stories is La biblioteca de Babel (The Library of Babel), which was the source of inspiration for this Doodle. In it, Borges stands in front of a library that represents the world’s complexity and the mysteries of memory.

5. Pablo Neruda

Once again, an autor from Chile brings us to the next Doodle. For many, Pablo Neruda was the greatest poet of the 20^th century. The Nobel Prize in Literature he won in 1971 and the honorary doctorate he received from the University of Oxford give us no reason to think otherwise. This Google Doodle evokes Pablo Neruda’s close relationship with the sea, a recurring element in much of his work.

6. Ernesto Sábato

It only took Ernesto Sábato three novels to carve out his place in Argentinian literature. One of them, El túnel (The Tunnel), is the story behind this Doodle. In addition to his literary work, Ernesto was a notable essayist, painter, and physicist. Who ever said that art and science can’t go together?

7. Julio Cortázar

The quote in this Doodle comes straight out of Rayuela (Hopscotch), a Spanish language literary classic. The Argentinian author Julio Cortázar was a master of short stories, an artist who knew how to play with the dimension of time, and a participant in one of the biggest literary movements to emerge from Latin America: magical realism.

8. Octavio Paz

Modern Mexican literature was reinvented in the 20^th century thanks to authors like Octavio Paz. One of his greatest contributions was the invention of topoemas, pieces of literature that focus more on the dimension of space than on the traditional perspective of time. This concept introduced by the Mexican author is precisely what Google tried to capture in the cosmic circles of this Doodle.

9. Gabriel García Márquez

The Buendía family poses in front of the jungle of Macondo. To the left, the face of Gabriel García Márquez presides over the scene. Cien años de soledad (A Hundred Years of Solitude) is possibly one of the best novels ever written in Spanish. Its author, a jewel in the crown of Colombian literature, knew better than anyone how to weave together fantasy and reality and was largely responsible for putting Latin American magical realism on the map.

10. José Emilio Pacheco

The last author on our list of Doodles is José Emilio Pacheco, a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist, and translator. Of the objects that appear in the image, the illustrated turtle stands out. It’s from the cover of El viento distante (The Distant Wind), one of his most famous novels.

We hope this list has helped you learn a bit more about the rich literary tradition of the Spanish language. If you’d like to immerse yourself in Hispanic culture and live it firsthand, we recommend you have a look at our multi-destination Spanish programs. They allow you to combine different cities in Spain and Latin America on your magical journey through the Spanish-speaking world.