Spain has third-worst record for speaking foreign languages

I have some bad news for any expat’s who hope to get by in Spain in their mother tongue: a survey has revealed that Spanish adults are among the most monolingual in Europe.

Behind Hungary and Portugal, Spain has the third-highest percentage of people who do not speak a foreign language.

At least 46.6 per cent of over-18s in Spain are unable even to introduce themselves in any other tongue.

This means the Spanish are even less likely to be able to speak a foreign language than the British, which is very surprising, considering the general apathy of the Brit’s towards learning another language.

Eurostat (the EU’s official statistics office) says 35 per cent of UK adults admit they do not know even the basics of any other language besides their own. France (41.2 per cent) and Italy (38.6 per cent) still show a poorer record than the UK – although marginally better than that of Spain.

Yet in Lithuania, Sweden and Latvia, almost everyone who has left school is able to speak at least one other language, with only 2.5 per cent of Lithuanians unable to do so, and five per cent of Swedes and Latvians.

In Spain, only 35 per cent say they are fluent, or have a good working knowledge, in another language and only 17 per cent are capable of speaking two foreign languages or more.

So what are your options:

(1) Bite the bullet and learn Spanish, the "Rocket Spanish" link on the left will help, you will get far more from your Spanish experience, if you can communicate even if it's just a little.

(2) Or you could move to one of the "Little Britain" areas in Spain, with the Sun, Sea, and Sangria, and the over inflated prices that you tried to avoid in Britain. In Orihuela (Cabo Roig coast) south of Torrevieja you will pay 3.00€ - 3.50€ for a pint of lager, in the Inland Valencia area you would not pay more than 1.75€. Another area north of Torrevieja (San Fulgencio), according to the latest census, the population is 8,197, foreigners account for 77%. There are 3,658 Brits living there, compared with 2,496 Spaniards, and other nationalities make up the other 2,043

I don't wish to offend anyone, but if this is your idea of Spain, you are welcome to it.