Learning Spanish in Spain: Public Classes, DELE and Regional Languages

Learning Spanish in Spain through the public system means an official language school, at 222 or 250 euros a course in Madrid in 2026, or an adult education center, where no fee is mentioned. The Instituto Cervantes, Spain’s public Spanish-language institute, charges 138 euros in Spain for its DELE diploma at A2. Castilian Spanish is official everywhere and the only language you need in Madrid or Seville. Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, the Basque Country, part of Navarre and Galicia add a second official language that shapes your children’s schooling more than your paperwork. This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice; verify current requirements with the relevant Spanish authority or a licensed professional.

Where can the language trip you up after you move?

Not at the visa stage: no residence rule read for this guide sets a language exam for a first visa. Language turns up in six places.

• Renewal. Articles 64.6, 71, 80.6 and 86.6 of Royal Decree 1155/2024, the immigration regulation, cover renewals of non-lucrative, family reunification, employee and self-employed permits. A regional report on your integration effort can then certify, where applicable, that you are learning the local official languages. For non-lucrative and self-employed renewals (articles 64.6 and 86.6), it serves mainly when you miss a requirement (non-lucrative visa guide).
• Arraigo. Since April 16, 2026, the report for arraigo social, a residence route based on ties to Spain, no longer names language. The Comunidad de Madrid, the regional government, still calls its free “Conoce tus leyes” (Know your laws) course indispensable for arraigo and integration-effort applicants, a regional practice the national text does not name. The course takes people aged 16 to 65 with A1 Spanish and a padrón, the town hall’s register of residents, in the region.
• A student stay. Under article 52.1.e, in-person Spanish or co-official language courses at an official language school or a Cervantes-accredited center count as training for a student stay, unless the language is your mother tongue or your country’s official language. The ministry’s student guide limits them to applicants over 18, with work needing a separate authorization, and the Washington consulate asks for at least 20 hours of study a week (student visa guide).
• Nationality. Royal Decree 1004/2015 requires a DELE of level A2 or higher and the CCSE civics test, both run by the Instituto Cervantes; Orden JUS/1625/2016 also accepts a registered official A2, B1 or B2 certificate from an official language school (Escuela Oficial de Idiomas, EOI) or a Spanish education authority instead of the DELE.
• Degree homologation. Homologating a degree for a regulated profession takes Spanish at B2 or higher, such as a DELE or EOI certificate, or proof that at least 75 percent of the degree was taught in Spanish (Royal Decree 889/2022, article 13; degree recognition guide).
• Public jobs. Legal residents may join administrations as contract staff on equal terms, civil-service posts generally require Spanish nationality, and administrations must provide for staff able to fill posts in two-language regions (public employee statute).

Classes and exams: what each costs in 2026

Amounts as read on the official pages on September 26, 2026.

Which language is official where you live

Article 3 of the Constitution makes Castilian the official language of the State and the other Spanish languages official in their regions under their statutes. In the 2021 population survey of the INE, Spain’s national statistics institute, 96.0 percent of residents spoke Castilian well (fieldwork March 2021 to February 2022, published December 20, 2022).

Catalonia’s 2023 language survey of people aged 15 and over found 93.4 percent understand Catalan and 80.4 percent can speak it. National government offices work in Castilian, though in a co-official region you may use that language with them too, and a document addressed to you is translated into Castilian if you expressly ask (Ley 39/2015, article 15).

Public Spanish classes and exams for adults

Official language schools

The EOIs teach Spanish in the six levels of Royal Decree 1041/2017, from A1 for beginners to C2. They may teach the intermediate (B1 and B2) and advanced (C1 and C2) levels in as few as two courses each, one fewer than the usual minimum. You must turn 16 in the year you start, or be over 14 for a language other than the one taken in secondary school, under article 59 of the education law; each region sets how this applies to Spanish. The 2026-2027 application windows have closed; what remains:

• Madrid. Since July 30, 2026, each school may fill leftover places (instructions). The regional page, updated September 21, 2026, gives 50 percent off to general-category large families (familia numerosa, an official status) and exempts special-category ones. It still shows only the 2025-2026 second-term window (December 15 to January 12), so the 2026-2027 dates are not out. Exams without the course cost 75 euros plus a 19-euro fee.
• Catalonia. The calendar for second-period courses is due by December 14, 2026 (Resolució EDF/814/2026). The public price page (updated March 24, 2026) charges 275 euros for “basic level, C1 and C2”, while the fees page (updated July 23, 2026) charges 303.55 euros for “intermediate and advanced”. The likeliest reading puts B1 and B2 at 303.55 euros; confirm with the school.
• Valencian Community. Remaining places go to anyone, with enrollment open until January 31, 2027 while places last, and each school sets its own second-term dates (admission resolution).

Adult education and integration centers

Madrid’s public adult education centers (CEPA) teach Spanish to foreign adults (course offer) aged 18 or over by December 31, 2026. The main window closed on September 8 (admission page), but the instructions of July 17, 2026 let centers enroll through the year when they can meet demand, and attach a public price to exam preparation courses but none to Spanish for foreigners. One center, CEPA Pablo Guzmán, states that its Spanish courses are free. The region’s integration centers (CEPI) run free activities, places limited, including Spanish from literacy to DELE A2 preparation.

Catalonia’s adult education centers (CFA) teach Castilian at three levels matching A1, A2 and B1 (2026-2027 rules), and from September 2, 2026 anyone can enroll where places remain (Resolució EDF/814/2026); no fee is stated. Andalusia’s adult plans teaching Castilian to foreigners (types of plans) take requests where places remain until March 19, 2027 (2026-2027 plans), with no fee stated.

Cervantes online courses and national funding

The Instituto Cervantes’ AVE Global self-study courses run from A1 to C1 with 90 days of access. No national program of free Spanish classes could be confirmed for 2026. The Ministry of Inclusion’s call of June 15, 2026 funds NGO projects against racism, xenophobia, hate crime, trafficking and gender violence, plus equipment; its published extract has no Spanish-learning line. The 2019 and 2020 calls did fund Spanish-learning projects for legally resident non-EU nationals.

DELE, SIELE and EOI certificates

In Spain, the DELE costs 112 euros for A1, 138 for A2, 173 for B1, 204 for B2, 225 for C1 and 240 for C2 in 2026 (price table). Two sittings are still open for registration, November 13 for A2 and November 14 for the other levels, until September 30, 2026; 2027 registration opens November 18 (calendar). The center finder lists centers by region; not all hold every sitting.

SIELE, a single Spanish test run by the Instituto Cervantes and three universities, covers all levels with a score from 0 to 1,000. Results come within three weeks and the certificate is valid five years; the Cervantes price page gives no figure. The nationality texts do not name SIELE.

An EOI basic certificate in Spanish counts the same as a DELE A1 or A2 in procedures set by public administrations, under article 4.6 of Royal Decree 1041/2017. The official A2, B1 or B2 certificate that article 10.3 of Orden JUS/1625/2016 accepts for nationality must be entered in the register of qualifications, and you must authorize the ministry to check it. The 85-euro CCSE civics test is required either way (DELE A2 and CCSE guide).

Catalan, Valencian, Basque and Galician as an adult

• Catalan in Catalonia. Beyond the free A1 and A2, CPNL courses cost 262.67 euros at C1 and 245.50 at C2, with 50 or 70 percent off for those eligible (prices). Enrollment in the CPNL’s own autumn courses closed on September 21, 2026, but its courses run with town halls and other bodies keep opening until December (Catalan government notice), and second-term enrollment normally opens in December (periods). Government certificates cost 23.90 euros from A2 to B2 and 57.45 for C1 and C2, with A1 free at the first sitting (fees); no 2027 call was out on September 26, 2026 (calls).
• Catalan in the Balearic Islands. The Mou la Llengua portal lists courses at the EOIs, 18 adult education centers, the University of the Balearic Islands and others. The 2026 certificate call covered a January sitting, with registration from October 15 to 31, 2025 (procedure), and a May sitting, with registration from March 18 to 31, 2026 and a valid DNI or NIE required (procedure); its fees and a 2027 call were not found.
• Valencian. The JQCV, the board that certifies Valencian, takes payment online only, with 10 percent off already applied (fees). Its B2, C1 and C2 written papers fall on October 3, 2026, with orals on October 17 and 24, and no 2027 calendar is out (calendar). The distance center CEEDCV teaches Valencian from A1 to C2 to residents over 18 and states no fee.
• Basque in the Basque Country. Euskara Bonua, approved on July 28, 2026 (news), covers learning from the start to B1 for one 120-euro payment, and learners who already had the A1 and A2 fee reductions join without paying, according to HABE, the Basque government’s adult Basque-learning agency. The pages read state no eligibility conditions, such as residence or age.
• Basque in Navarre. For 2026-2027, Navarre refunds 100 percent of A1 and A2 tuition as a subsidy, requested September 1 to November 3 and paid later, and up to 475 euros for other in-person levels.
• Galician. The second 2026 call holds Celga 2, 3 and 4 exams on November 14, 15, 21 and 22 in Santiago de Compostela, Ponferrada and Madrid, open to anyone 16 or over. Applications run for 15 business days counted from September 17, 2026. The Xunta, Galicia’s regional government, runs free Celga preparatory courses at official language schools: under its June 2026 call, anyone 16 or over can apply from November 2 to 13, 2026 for the courses of January to May.

Your children at school: teaching language and grade exemptions

Teaching in the regional language varies by region and often by the model you choose, and several regions let newcomers go ungraded in it for a while, still attending class. Language support for newcomers in Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia is covered in the school enrollment guide.

Catalonia’s Ley 8/2022 (appeal 5630/2022 and question 6052/2022) and the Valencian Ley 1/2024 (appeal 7174/2024) are in force but challenged before the Constitutional Court, with no ruling listed on the BOE as of September 26, 2026.

Your next step: use the window that is still open

Register for a November DELE by September 30, 2026, and for a Celga exam within its 15-business-day window counted from September 17, 2026. In Madrid, ask an EOI about leftover places or ask a CEPA, which may enroll through the year. Valencian EOIs enroll until January 31, 2027 while places last. For Catalan, look for a CPNL course run with a town hall, open until December, or for second-term enrollment, which normally opens in December.

You can enroll or register for an exam alone. A child’s exemption has its own window: September 1 to October 10 at Balearic schools, and December 22, 2026 for Valencian secondary pupils, or three months after a later enrollment. See an immigration lawyer if you miss a renewal requirement and plan to rely on the integration report.

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