Passion for Spain & Latin America

Dieter Wiggert

I was nineteen and aboard a train in Germany when a brochure left behind on the seat beside me entitled “Learn Spanish in Spain” caught my eye. It was packed with Spanish schools dotted all over Spain. The idea of learning a new language grabbed me. I flicked through the pages skipping the coastal destinations which I figured would be full of tourists, preferring a place where I would have to speak Spanish.

One city had a name that was so appealing I said it to myself out loud a few times: Salamanca. And that was that. Just a few weeks later I Ianded up here.

For several years I’d combine long sejourns in Spain with return trips to Germany and my degree obligations – I was doing Translation and Interpretation and latterly an end-of-degree thesis on vocabulary in the popular football daily El As.
And when that was done I made the definitive journey South to set up my permament home in Spain, sharing a flat with a bunch of Basque students and immersing myself in Spanish life. I started out as a German teacher, a little while later met Amanda and we set up our own Spanish school for foreigners, ISLA. We worked on this project with passion and purpose for over thirty years… so it was a blow when it came to an end in 2020 due to Coronavirus.

I’ve done quite a bit of travelling over the years and have hugely enjoyed the gastronomy and the idiosyncrasy of the many people and places in Spain and Latin America.

I hope to share some of these experiences with you and inspire a few journeys to these marvelous places where you will immerse yourself in local life and lore.

If I had to pick the thing I like best about living in Spain it would be that – its enormous diversity. Each region is so different in climate, gastronomy, language and people. All embracing and enthralling.