I’m coming up for my 4th week of learning with Clic Cadiz IH, a private Spanish language school located in the sleepy seaside town of Cádiz (in the Spanish region of Andalusia.) Having previously experienced learning Spanish for a similar time period with a language school in Buenos Aires, it has been nice to continue on with my Spanish language studies at a private language school once again. It is in this environment where I personally feel that I learn much quicker. All other methods outwith of the language schools I feel are not intensive or immersive enough and so I have been enjoying these past 3 weeks in Spain! That and it’s been awesome to have a school located in such a beautiful destination. In fact, one of the best things about Clic Cadiz IH has been the surrounding seaside environment and tranquillity! It has genuinely left me feeling charmed and has certainly provided an excellent environment for learning in! So with my current language learning experiences here in Cadiz in mind, here are 10 awesome reasons why you should choose Cadiz as your study abroad destination (if you’re planning on doing something similar!)
The Views
By far the best thing about Cadiz are the incredible views that surround you, which is in large part indebted to the peninsula that the city is situated on. Cadiz is essentially a town built upon a tiny piece of land which sticks out from mainland Spain. In the Old Town you are literally surrounded entirely by coastline on all sides except from one small(ish) strip of land that connects you to the New Town. Everyday I literally take the short walk out to one of the coastal viewpoints and just take it in. It’s also quite common at certain spots (such as the one pictured above for example) to see local people out casually fishing in some of these places too.
The Chill Factor
Cadiz is a place to chill. You’ve got the beach, the sunshine and Spanish siesta mentality! In fact, sometimes finding the motivation to do anything but chill by the beach after school has been hard, but it’s certainly not something I’m complaining about either! People here are generally very relaxed (I find) despite the fact the town has (I’ve been told) the highest rate of unemployment in Spain! You certainly wouldn’t think it given how easy going everybody seems to be! Maybe we’re all just a bit too consumed by the beach life to care during summer! 
Walking Distance to the Beach
This is not just a good thing about living in Cadiz generally, but also studying specifically at Clic Cadiz IH. The school, situated on Calle Acacias, is located a mere 2 to 3 minutes walk from the best beach in town! Need I say more?
The Sea Food
Pescaito Frito – or fried fish – is the local dish here in Cadiz. The local people absolutely love it! For those of you who are from the UK, it’s sort of like our traditional fish ‘n’ chips except quite a bit nicer. Also, you’ll usually have a variety of fish types to choose from. For €6 to €7 I can usually get 2 large(ish) plates of ‘pescaito frito’ plus a drink in most local tapas bars in the Old Town.
The Beautiful Buildings
Living in the Old Town has certainly had it’s benefits! There is plaza after plaza of amazing architectural gems here (such as the building pictured above in Plaza de San Antonio), but when you’re not having a beer or coffee in one of these places you’re usually stumbling across a pretty park or another beautiful monument somewhere. There have been so many times since I arrived here when I think I must have seen it all, then I turn a corner trying to find a short cut home, and suddenly I’ve found my way into yet another beautiful plaza or square surrounded by stunning buildings.
Friendly Locals
Locals here have been very friendly in my experience so far. Whether it’s the young students giving me recommendations of places to meet other young people, the little old man providing me with directions or the many dog walkers and families that are so tactile you almost want to join in on the hugs!! It really is a town brim-full with likeable locals! Also, the geography of Cadiz also makes it very hard to expand, so the chances of this place ever becoming over-run with international expats is thankfully always going to be curtailed somewhat – making it an increasingly good place to travel to in Spain if you want south-coast-living without the huge amount of British and German expat communities.
The Weekly Language Exchange at El Pelicano Bar (Every Wednesday)
This was a recommendation from the language school and it turned out to be a really great find! My intial thoughts were that there wouldn’t be enough people to make an exchange, given how small Cadiz is in size. However, the place was absolutely packed once the night got going, with almost everyone there purely for the language interchange! It was also just a really cool place to go on Wednesdays if you don’t know anyone in Cadiz.
An Interesting History…
Founded by Phoenicians from Lebanon, Cadiz is often considered to be the most ancient city still standing in Western Europe. Take a wander past many of its
old buildings such as Cadiz Cathedral, San Sebastian Castle or Santa Catalina Castle and you’ll find there is a surprising amount of historical significance to this quaint seaside town.
Clic Cadiz IH
I can’t mention my time in Cadiz so far without mentioning my language school Clic Cadiz IH – the school with the perfect beach location! Having previously learned a bit of Spanish in the bustling metropolis of Buenos Aires in Argentina, it has been interesting to have an entirely different experience when it comes to my language learning location, as well as getting to grips with a very different accent and way of speaking Spanish too. I will be writing much more about Clic in an upcoming article on this blog very soon, so I won’t go into too much detail just now, but I have to say that the combination of being able to learn Spanish in the mornings and then hit the beach or the Old Town in the afternoons has been idyllic. In fact, I’ve noticed a lot of the people studying here actually taking classes as part of their annual 2 week vacation and doing just that! Language learning in the morning, beach time in the afternoon!
>> If you’d like to find out more about learning Spanish at Clic Cadiz you can do so via their website at http://www.clic.es/en.