Where can I learn Spanish for free in Barcelona?

Barcelona has 25 free adult schools, and most of them teach Spanish. They are called CFA (centre de formació d’adults, a public adult-education school) or AFA, and the council describes their courses in three words: flexible, free and accredited. Spanish, “llengua castellana”, is taught at three levels, and the council’s own PDF lists which levels each centre runs — check it, or ring, before you travel. Most centres also teach Catalan and English. The Escola Oficial d’Idiomes is the paid alternative, and it is worth paying for only if you need an official certificate.

Does this apply to me

Anyone aged 18 or over can enrol, and 16 or 17 year olds can in certain cases, including having a job that stops them attending an ordinary school. Nothing in the admission process turns on nationality. Places are allocated by a points system, so applying inside the official window matters more than anything else. Course hours also count towards the social-integration report used in an arraigo (arrelament in Catalan, a residence permit based on time spent in Spain) application, so keep the certificate.

What it costs

Free at a CFA or AFA. At the Escola Oficial d’Idiomes Barcelona-Drassanes, the fees in force from 14 Jul 2026 depend on whether it is your first, second or third enrolment in the same language at the same level — repeating costs more each time:

A 50 per cent reduction exists for some students; the EOI’s own fees page sets out who qualifies, so check there before you pay.

What to bring

• Your identity document — DNI, NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero, the foreigner identification number) or passport.
• Your certificate from the padrón (Barcelona City Council’s register of residents).
• If you have studied Spanish before, anything showing your level; otherwise the centre will place you after an interview.

Where to go

There is a CFA or AFA in nine of the ten districts. A few, by district:

The one district with no centre

Gràcia. If you live there, the nearest on the council’s list are CFA Rius i Taulet, Avinguda Riera de Cassoles 23-27, and CFA El Carmel. The council publishes the full list of 25, with the levels each one teaches, in one PDF — the address is at the end of this answer. One thing that looks like a mistake and is not: CFA Maria Rubies and AMIC-UGT share the same address at Rambla del Raval 29-35.

The Escola Oficial d’Idiomes Barcelona-Drassanes is at Avinguda de les Drassanes 14, 08001, telephone 933 249 330. New students must go through pre-enrolment before they can enrol.

How to book, and when

Ring the centre nearest you, or go in. For the 2026–2027 year, pre-enrolment ran 19–29 Jun 2026 and enrolment 2–10 Sep 2026. If you missed both, this is the sentence that matters: where places remain, you can enrol without having pre-enrolled from 14 Sep 2026. The official calendar opens some teachings earlier, from 4 Sep 2026, so ring the centre and ask whether they have a vacancy in llengua castellana rather than relying on one date. At the EOI, classes for 2026–2027 start from 21 Sep 2026.

How long it takes

One phone call to find out whether a centre has space. Courses run the school year, September to June, with a level a year.

What happens next

You get a place and, at the end of the level, a certificate. The council describes its adult courses as accredited; what a particular Spanish level certifies is worth asking the centre, because it decides whether the paper is any use to an employer.

What goes wrong

• The paid option is the famous one, so people go to the EOI first, discover it costs €305 and has a competitive pre-enrolment, and give up on classes altogether. The free CFA down the road teaches the same beginner Spanish. Go there first, and go to the EOI only when you need the official certificate — for a job application, a visa or a public-sector competition.
• Missing the June window costs you the points system, not the place. Vacancies are filled from mid-September in the order people turn up, so ring in the first days of term rather than waiting for next June.

Useful words

Read next

• Where can I learn Catalan, and how much does it cost? Beginner Catalan is free too, and it is a different institution.
• We arrived after enrolment closed. How do I get my child into school? The same council runs both, by a different procedure.
• How do I get my Philippine degree or diploma recognised in Spain? Adults enrolling on a Spanish course need no homologation.

Official source

Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona, adult education, at edubcn.cat, with the full list of 25 centres, their addresses and the levels each teaches in the PDF at edubcn.cat/rcs_gene/extra/04_carpeta_orientador/K02_OfertacentresADULTS-Publica.pdf. Dates are at preinscripcio.gencat.cat under educació d’adults. EOI fees are at eoibd.cat.