The idea for Estudia-España was many years in the making. It actually all began before the internet era when Mike Hughes, the co-founder of the company, went to Granada to do a Spanish language course. Back in 1991, booking a Spanish course in Spain was a very different experience: you couldn’t just open a webpage and book your place on the course in a few clicks as it is with Estudia-Espana today!
This is the story of a weeks-long saga to get to Spain!
Mike’s initial interest came from his mum having Spanish friends. He tried a night class and his interest was really piqued when he tried the little bit of Spanish he knew, on a Spanish waiter at a local restaurant. The waiter was probably being over-fair with his assessment of Mike’s language skills at the time, but at one point he also mentioned that it’s possible to learn Spanish at schools in Spain.
The idea was now forming in his head of travelling to Spain. But where to start? In 1991, the answer was the Spanish Consulate, of course! Off he went one afternoon and upon arrival, not really knowing if this was the way to go about things, he cautiously asked at the front desk if they could help him. To his astonishment, the Spanish lady handed him a couple of flyers for schools in Spain. One was in Madrid, one in Bilbao and one in Granada. He took the flyers home and had already decided that Granada was of most interest - especially after what Jose the waiter had said.
The back page of the flyer was a section to be filled out with name, address, etc to request more information. You sent this off to the school, which is exactly what Mike did. This of course involved a trip to the post office followed by a 3-4 week wait for the info pack. It finally arrived and only then could you fill in the actual booking form, and once again send it back to the school. Payment of the deposit was done using a EuroCheque - a real, paper cheque - that involved a tricky trip to a bank and a conversation with a clerk who didn’t really know what a EuroCheque was. Only this way was it possible to pay the Pesetas (the Spanish currency at the time) required to secure the place on the course.
With the application made, by post, you simply had to wait for confirmation, which took a few weeks again. Only then you could start thinking about flights. But that’s another story!
Nowadays, of course, everyone is booking their Spanish language learning trips on the internet. And that’s where Estudia-España comes in. The booking platform gives you the opportunity to find, research and book a Spanish course in Spain. It’s not only an attractive looking website, it’s also very simple and easy to use. You won’t be misled, and each step of the booking process is easy to follow.
