Pen pals in Spain

When your pen pal in Spain says they are about to have dinner, it may well be after nine in the evening. Lunch, usually the main meal, tends to fall somewhere around two or three o'clock, and the rest of the day shifts to match. Part of the reason is the clock: Spain uses Central European Time even though much of it lies as far west as Britain, so the sun rises and sets late. If you are messaging from elsewhere in Europe, Spanish evenings run later than yours even when the clocks agree. The Canary Islands, out in the Atlantic, are an hour behind the mainland.

Spanish, and the other languages of Spain

Spanish (often called castellano at home) is spoken everywhere, but several regions have a second official language. Catalan is used in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and in the Valencia region in the form known as Valencian. Galician is spoken in Galicia in the north-west, and Basque in the Basque Country and parts of Navarre. Basque is unrelated to Spanish or any other European language. In the Val d'Aran in the Pyrenees, Aranese is co-official too.

So a pen pal from Barcelona, Santiago de Compostela or Bilbao may have gone to school partly in a language other than Spanish, and may feel strongly about it. It is better to ask than to guess. If you are learning Spanish, a pen pal can show you how people really write to friends, which is a long way from the textbook; our language exchange guide explains how to set up a fair swap.

A year in Spain

The Christmas season runs longer than in many countries. On New Year's Eve, many people eat twelve grapes, one for each chime of midnight. The real gift-giving often comes on 6 January, the Day of the Three Kings. The evening before, towns hold a parade, the cabalgata, with the Kings throwing sweets to the crowd, and children wake up to presents. A ring-shaped cake, the roscón de Reyes, follows.

Semana Santa, the week before Easter, is marked with processions in many towns, especially in Andalusia; its dates move each year. Beyond that, almost every town has its own fiesta, often in summer, and these can be the highlight of a pen pal's year. The school year runs roughly from September to June, with the long holiday over the hottest months.

One country, many climates

Spain is often pictured as all beaches and sunshine. The Mediterranean coast and the south do get long, hot summers, but the green, rainy north-west looks more like Ireland, Madrid's winters can be properly cold, and the mountains get snow. Ask your pen pal what the weather is like this week rather than assuming.

The other picture worth dropping is of a whole country taking an afternoon nap. The long midday break exists in some jobs and places, but most people in cities spend those hours working, studying or commuting, not sleeping.

Questions to start with

• What time do you usually eat dinner on a school or work day?
• Does your region have its own language, and do you use it?
• What happens at your town's fiesta?
• Do you get presents at Christmas, on 6 January, or both?