The main thing is that you want to work. There are just a few technical details such as: you must be older than 18 and younger than 35 to do an internship, a B1 level is required for volunteering and for internships in hotels, a B2 level for general internships. For internships in hotels you must a European citizen and/or majoring in tourism while doing the internship.

To ensure your Spanish is adequate for the work you will do in the charitable organization, the program requires that you first complete a 4-week Intensive Spanish course. You must have at least a B1 level, although some projects require a higher level. The course assures the organization that you have the required language skills to interact efficiently in your new environment, but most importantly, it allows you to see the different projects and to choose the one that most interests you. 

We strongly advise you to remain flexible when choosing your preferred volunteer program as they can change at short notice, and indeed, new programs are added continuously. For that reason, at the time of booking it is not necessary to specify the program you hope to participate in, only the general area in which you wish to volunteer. Then you can select the exact project during the language course period of your stay. 

Also, it’s often possible to prolong your volunteer period for longer than the minimum 4 weeks. This is something you can work out with your coordinator once you are doing your course. 

Of course you can! That’s the idea. With hotel internships however, courses and internships are usually not in the same city because most hotels are either on the coast or on islands.

• Citizens of countries belonging to the European Union do not need a visa to enter Spain.
• Citizens of many countries (such as the USA, Brazil, Japan, Korea...) can enter and stay in Spain for a period of 3 months without a visa. If you are going to stay longer you should apply for student visa (type D) before coming to Spain.
• Students from other countries must contact their nearest Spanish Embassy or Consulate to find out if they need to obtain a visa.
• don Quijote can assist students in applying for visas by providing an official Letter of Invitation, if required.

This depends on where your passport is from, the specific country you are traveling to and how long you are staying. You can get more information about visa requirements from the nearest embassy or consulate of your destination country.

Americans can easily check if they need a visa requirements at this website:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/americans-traveling-abroad.html


For those students who do need to process a visa, don Quijote will be able to provide the required official Letter of Invitation once full payment has been made.

The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain has a complete list of the addresses of consulates and embassies in Spain.

Students who required any type of invitation letter to obtain a student visa for their program and ultimately had to cancel due to denial of the visa will be refunded on the condition that the student sends us the official, original and certified letter of denial directly from the embassy in question. If this copy is not received by don Quijote, 100% of the cost of the program will be charged.

Once you have arrived, pass through customs and proceed to the arrivals area of the airport. Look for your driver, he will be waiting for you holding a sign with the don Quijote logo and your name.

The shuttle service can be scheduled according to the time of your arrival. At some destinations, such as Argentina and Costa Rica, it is obligatory to use our shuttle service if your flight arrives at certain hours.

In each destination there is a collection point available 24 hours per day. You will be given more details of your situation once you have formalized your registration in full.

If you have any issues you can call don Quijote’s 24 hour emergency telephone number at +34 636 450 998. Additionally, prior to your arrival you will be given an emergency telephone number specific to your destination.
 

A don Quijote representative will be waiting for you at the airport, train station or bus station, holding a sign with the don Quijote logo and your name, as long as you provide us with your arrival information.

If you have paid in full, we will send you the final confirmation and address of your accommodation approximately two weeks prior to arrival.
 

If you have booked accommodation with us, you will receive instructions for the day of arrival along with the confirmation (where to go, how to pick up the keys, etc.). We are easily reachable by phone if you have any issues.

If you booked a language course without accommodations, you must go directly to the school on Monday at 8:30 a.m. for your first Spanish proficiency evaluation.

don Quijote’s 24 hour emergency telephone number is + 34 636 450 998.

All cities have their own additional emergency telephone number that we will send you prior to arrival.
 

If you book our airport shuttle service, we will send you detailed instructions prior to arrival. We recommend that you arrive the day before the start of the course. If you have any further questions on this topic or want to book the shuttle service now, contact us at helpdq@donquijote.org.

Give us a call at our 24-hour emergency phone to let us know and we will find a solution to any arrival issue (we've seen it all!).