The beginnings of language tourism in Malaga

History

The first course in Spanish language and culture took place in 1948

Víctor Heredia

In the post-war years, it was the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), founded in 1938, that promoted the organisation of these summer courses aimed ... at students from other countries, an activity which at that time served as an important propaganda tool for the regime. Its main initiative was the Menéndez Pelayo International University, which held its first course in Santander in 1947, although the range of summer courses extended to numerous locations across Spain: Santiago de Compostela, La Rábida, Segovia, La Laguna, San Sebastián, etc.

The city of Malaga had pioneered a course for foreign nationals, which took place between February and March 1933, organised by the National Institute of Secondary Education in collaboration with the University of Granada. Although that initiative was not continued, it marked a fundamental difference compared with other courses aimed at foreign students: it took place during the winter months, thereby reinforcing the city’s tourism promotion centred on its mild climate, which was being promoted simultaneously through the Winter Sports Festivals.

It was against this backdrop that the first Winter Course for Foreigners opened on 15 January 1948, organised by the CSIC in collaboration with the City Hall, the Civil Government and the Provincial Council. The ceremony, held in the Salón de los Espejos, was attended by the civil authorities, the bishop, the course director, Joaquín de Entrambasaguas, a professor at the Complutense University, and the secretary, Rafael Benítez Claros.

Forsyth, the pupil who wanted to be a bullfighter

The SUR newspaper published a list of students from the 1956 intake. The list includes an English student named Frederick Forsyth. Indeed, this is the famous writer who died in June 2025. Francisco Griñán then dedicated an article to him, in which he recalled the novelist’s time in Malaga, as recounted in his memoir 'The Intruder: My Life in a Key of Intrigue'. When he was seventeen, he decided to come to Malaga to learn Spanish. He arrived via Gibraltar and introduced himself to Andrés Oliva. ‘He was truly cultured and a genuine gentleman in the traditional sense.’ He stayed at Concha Lamothe’s house in La Malagueta. But the young Englishman divided his time between bullfighting, taverns and a passionate relationship with a German countess. His real aim was to learn the secrets of bullfighting, for which he enrolled at a bullfighting school operating at Malaga’s bullring, although his fear of the bulls’ horns proved stronger than his desire to become a matador. That said, by the end of the course, he was “chattering away in street Spanish with an Andalusian accent”.