El Casal - Learning Adventures in Barcelona logo
el casal
learning adventures in barcelona
Experience
Spain
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"La Boquería" market


Eliza en el claustro de la catedral de Girona


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Why "el casal"?

 

Unique Offerings

With myriad language study and travel programs in Spain to choose from, you need good reasons to choose El Casal. Here are a few:

It's small, around ten participants.


You'll make friends among your fellow high school graduates, but you won't feel as though you're living in an American "bubble" within Spain. You'll have the time and the opportunity to make friends outside our little community.

It's "self-contained".


That is, the Director oversees every aspect of the program: living arrangements, seminars, activities, travel, service projects... you name it. Our oversight and the accessibility of the Director and staff ensure a quality experience for you.

It's specialized.


El Casal is the only program of its kind conceived specifically for gap year students in Spain. We are looking for well-qualified, daring, intellectually curious and highly motivated graduates who are ready for challenges that go beyond the classroom.

It’s not just about bullfights, beaches, paella and the other things that many tourists associate with Spain.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a good paella, but we assume that you want to be more than a tourist. You’ll learn about Spain’s past, but you'll also focus on today's Spain, the one that looks toward the rest of Europe and toward the future.

Remember...


You'll be based in Barcelona, in the autonomous state of Catalunya, a region with its particular language, history and traditions, and one which is on the cutting edge of the modern, Mediterranean world.

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What Is a "Casal"?

If you think casal has something to do with casa, you're pretty close! In Catalán, casal — in addition to meaning "house" or "home" — can also mean "center", as in "cultural center" or "recreation center." A casal is a warm and welcoming place where people with common interests can meet and interact. We hope you'll feel at home in our casal!

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About Our Logo

El Casal - Learning Adventures in Barcelona logo Our logo and the designs which mark various sections on our web site show fragments of trencadis — a mosaic of broken pieces of ceramic tiles — from Barcelona's Park Güell, designed by Catalán architect, Antoni Gaudí.

The trencadis serves as a metaphor for the El Casal experience, in that each participant will, inevitably, combine the pieces of the adventure in his or her own way. We hope that you will leave Spain having made your own colorful mosaic of the time spent with us. The trencadis may also be seen as a metaphor for the program participants themselves, in that El Casal welcomes people with differing backgrounds, passions and personal histories in the hope that each will contribute to the mosaic of the program, forming a mutually enriching experience.

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contact el casal
learning adventures in barcelona
Balmes 163, 3/1 - 08008 Barcelona - Spain
Phone: +34 93 217 90 38 / Fax: +34 93 218 34 32
info@elcasalbarcelona.com