https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Spain in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed As in many other languages, there’s an art to swearing in Spanish. Here we discuss the different ways you can properly use the Spanish versions of the F-word and their derivative uses and how they compare to English. https://www.thelocal.es/20241011/joder-an-expert-guide-for-how-to-use-the-f-word-in-spanish Fri, 11 Oct 2024 21:26:01 +0200 joder-an-expert-guide-for-how-to-use-the-f-word-in-spanish They say the eyes never lie, and when it comes to the use of ‘ojo’ (eye) in Spanish there are plenty of everyday expressions which will help you become a true native speaker. https://www.thelocal.es/20240401/ojo-14-very-useful-spanish-expressions-with-the-word-eye Mon, 01 Apr 2024 12:28:29 +0200 ojo-14-very-useful-spanish-expressions-with-the-word-eye Saying hi and goodbye in Spanish can’t be that hard, right? Well, if you’ve been using your home country as your frame of reference you may be getting some simple Spanish greetings wrong. https://www.thelocal.es/20210329/the-most-common-mistakes-foreigners-make-when-greeting-people-in-spain Mon, 29 Mar 2021 17:50:39 +0200 the-most-common-mistakes-foreigners-make-when-greeting-people-in-spain What does 'eaten bread' mean in Spain? Or to 'make good crumbs'? As bread is such a staple of the Spanish diet, it's no surprise there are loads of expressions with the word 'pan', but most have nothing to do with the food. https://www.thelocal.es/20240607/pan-seven-everyday-spanish-expressions-with-the-word-bread Fri, 07 Jun 2024 09:46:38 +0200 pan-seven-everyday-spanish-expressions-with-the-word-bread Many languages have original and funny expressions to refer to the act of being under the influence, and Spanish is no exception to this. https://www.thelocal.es/20210806/drunk-as-a-clam-how-to-say-youve-had-too-much-to-drink-in-spanish Fri, 06 Aug 2021 17:26:53 +0200 drunk-as-a-clam-how-to-say-youve-had-too-much-to-drink-in-spanish Semana Santa or Holy Week is a big deal in Spain. The holiday even comes with its own set of special Spanish words you'll hear over and over again during this time. https://www.thelocal.es/20230406/an-a-to-z-of-the-spanish-semana-santa-vocabulary-you-need-to-know Thu, 06 Apr 2023 17:22:18 +0200 an-a-to-z-of-the-spanish-semana-santa-vocabulary-you-need-to-know When someone passes away, it's hard enough to find the right words to express your condolences in English, let alone in Spanish. Here are some suitable phrases in Spanish to help you out. https://www.thelocal.es/20260325/how-to-express-condolences-in-spanish Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:43:05 +0100 how-to-express-condolences-in-spanish Got your NIEs and TIEs all in a muddle? Not sure if you are paying IVA or IRPF? In this handy guide, The Local spells out some of the key terms you'll need while living in Spain. https://www.thelocal.es/20190507/a-to-z-of-spanish-red-tape Tue, 07 May 2019 09:00:00 +0200 a-to-z-of-spanish-red-tape If you're newly self-employed in Spain, you'll have to get your head around the rules and forms to fill out, but also all the new Spanish work vocabulary. Here are some key words you need to know as an 'aútonomo/a' in Spain. https://www.thelocal.es/20241017/autonomo-in-spain-essential-vocab-for-foreign-self-employed-workers Thu, 17 Oct 2024 09:49:56 +0200 autonomo-in-spain-essential-vocab-for-foreign-self-employed-workers If there’s one letter in the world that’s intrinsically Spanish it’s this one, so much so that the words for Spain (España) and Spanish (español) have it. But how much do you really know about this N with a squiggly hat on it? https://www.thelocal.es/20200625/five-fascinating-facts-you-didnt-know-about-the-letter-in-spanish Thu, 25 Jun 2020 12:57:49 +0200 five-fascinating-facts-you-didnt-know-about-the-letter-in-spanish You may know it as as the Spanish national football team and Rafa Nadal’s battle cry, but "Vamos" is used frequently in daily spoken Spanish. These common uses will help you sound like a local. https://www.thelocal.es/20241022/vamos-ten-easy-but-very-useful-ways-to-use-this-great-word-in-spanish Tue, 22 Oct 2024 14:16:40 +0200 vamos-ten-easy-but-very-useful-ways-to-use-this-great-word-in-spanish Everyone in Spain, from sweet little kids to frail old ladies, peppers their everyday conversation with enough swearwords to make a sailor blush. Here's how to join in (if you want to, of course). https://www.thelocal.es/20241008/getting-explicit-how-to-swear-like-a-local-in-spain Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:06:15 +0200 getting-explicit-how-to-swear-like-a-local-in-spain Here's a breakdown of where to get free or very cheap Spanish classes in Valencia, Alicante, Marbella, Tenerife, Mallorca, Benalmádena and other places in Spain with large English-speaking populations. https://www.thelocal.es/20260210/where-to-get-free-spanish-classes-in-spain Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:16:07 +0100 where-to-get-free-spanish-classes-in-spain Spaniards love food, and even when they're not eating or talking about it, the chances are they're using it to describe something else. Here's the lowdown on the most amusing foody expressions in Spanish. https://www.thelocal.es/20190321/7-foody-phrases-that-dont-mean-what-you-think Thu, 21 Mar 2019 10:30:12 +0100 7-foody-phrases-that-dont-mean-what-you-think What on earth does it mean when someone says in Spanish that they ‘don’t have hair on their tongue’? Here are some of the most widely used idioms in Spanish to do with the word 'lengua'. https://www.thelocal.es/20240520/la-lengua-eight-everyday-spanish-expressions-with-the-word-tongue Mon, 20 May 2024 12:27:12 +0200 la-lengua-eight-everyday-spanish-expressions-with-the-word-tongue If you’re buying a second-hand vehicle in Spain from a private seller, there’s a big chance you’ll have to do the hard bargaining and scrutinising in Spanish, so here are nine questions to help you with the process. https://www.thelocal.es/20241022/9-questions-to-ask-when-buying-a-second-hand-car-in-spain Tue, 22 Oct 2024 09:18:51 +0200 9-questions-to-ask-when-buying-a-second-hand-car-in-spain If you're going to be spending Christmas in Spain, you may want to brush up on this essential 'Navidad' vocab to show off your festive language skills. https://www.thelocal.es/20201215/the-essential-a-to-z-of-spanish-christmas-vocabulary Tue, 15 Dec 2020 18:07:30 +0100 the-essential-a-to-z-of-spanish-christmas-vocabulary This word defines a whole new philosophy for how Spaniards like to spend their time. https://www.thelocal.es/20251203/spanish-word-of-the-day-tardeo Wed, 03 Dec 2025 11:54:40 +0100 spanish-word-of-the-day-tardeo Caló, as Spanish Romani is called, has heavily influenced Spanish slang and colloquialisms, from the go-to words for ‘cool’ to ‘dodgy’, ‘mad’ and many more. Here are 18 words used all the time in Spain that were coined by the 'gitanos'. https://www.thelocal.es/20230427/18-cool-spanish-words-that-come-spains-gypsy-language Thu, 27 Apr 2023 13:42:13 +0200 18-cool-spanish-words-that-come-spains-gypsy-language Although Spain is famed for being warm and sunny, Spaniards have plenty of expressions and proverbs to refer to cold and rainy weather (with the odd swearword chucked in, of course). https://www.thelocal.es/20210112/ten-phrases-to-talk-about-cold-and-wet-weather-like-a-true-spaniard Tue, 12 Jan 2021 13:04:02 +0100 ten-phrases-to-talk-about-cold-and-wet-weather-like-a-true-spaniard