Spain Cultural Discovery is a three-week summer immersion program designed for high school students to explore Spain's diverse regional cultures while developing Spanish language skills and intercultural competence. Your journey begins in Madrid, Spain's vibrant capital, where you'll spend your first five days in an intensive orientation. You'll visit world-renowned museums like the Prado and Reina Sofía to see masterpieces by Picasso and Dalí, explore the Habsburg district, and take a full-day excursion to the historic city of Toledo. Throughout this phase, you'll practice Spanish daily while navigating Madrid's lively streets and sampling authentic tapas in local cafés.

The heart of the program is a two-week homestay in Valencia (or another regional community like Vilagarcia, Úbeda, or Logroño), where you'll experience authentic Spanish family life and dramatically accelerate your language learning through daily interactions with your host family and local students. During this immersive phase, you'll participate in hands-on cultural activities including traditional Spanish cooking classes where you'll learn to prepare paella and tortilla de patata, cycle along the scenic Turia river gardens to the beach, and visit Europe's largest aquarium. This homestay component is carefully coordinated by José Antonio Cámara Martínez, one of The Experiment's most experienced local representatives, ensuring meaningful integration into Spanish community life.

Your final days take you to Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city and capital of Catalonia, where you'll explore UNESCO World Heritage sites, visit the Picasso Museum, and marvel at Antoni Gaudí's architectural masterpiece, La Sagrada Família. You'll shop along La Rambla and experience the Gothic Quarter before reflecting on your experiences with your cohort. Throughout the program, you'll develop technical skills in Spanish language and Spanish cooking alongside critical interpersonal skills including intercultural communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and relationship-building—all essential for global citizenship.

The program is structured around The Experiment's proven model of experiential learning and cohort-based community. You'll be guided by experienced group leaders like Isaias Torres, who bring deep international education expertise and local knowledge. The program includes all lodging (hotel stays in Madrid and Barcelona, homestay in Valencia), meals, comprehensive program activities, in-country transportation, and health insurance. Be prepared for warm summer temperatures, lots of urban walking, limited internet access, and an expectation to embrace Spanish food traditions—though vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are increasingly available. This program is ideal for students with at least one year of Spanish language study who want to deepen their language skills, understand Spain's rich cultural complexity, and build lasting connections with Spanish peers and host families.