Au Pair in Spain - Summer or Academic Year

I had an amazing time as an au pair in Málaga. My host family was extremely sweet, understanding, and funny as well. I even turned 21 turning my time with them and they celebrated with me by putting up decorations, getting a cake, and even got me some gifts as well! Socially, it was hard (but not impossible) to meet people my age that I could consistently hang out with, but this was not a huge deal for me. I did have some time to solo travel which I enjoyed, but I had a great time with the family each day as well. They invited me to lots of their social events, and although there was a bit of a language barrier, it was still super fun and nice to be included and experience more authentic Spanish culture.

Everything is very well laid out by Ana and her planning and preparation, she helps through every step of the process and keeps in touch during the stay. My time in Spain was short, only six weeks during my summer vacation, because that's what fit into my life plans at the time. Ana matched me perfectly with my host family that was searching for a shorter stay as well. I totally would have stayed longer if I could have!

I would not pass up the opportunity to do this experience if you are considering!

This was a wonderful opportunity where I learned a lot and met many great people. The family I stayed with were so kind and went above and beyond to make me comfortable. I studied child development in college and plan to work with children for my career which I feel definitely gave me the tools I needed to best support and care for the children in the family. I do wish I met more people my age, but it was a bit challenging to socialize with new people outside of the family and friends I was staying with because of the language barrier. However, I did make a few really good friends and still had so much fun! I also feel like my spanish improved a lot! Lastly, I gained good skills in being by myself and figuring things out.

Being an au pair is an experience that is different from any other. It's a combo between the challenge of a new job and the challenge of living with other people, sharing their culture and habits. It has not always been easy, living and working in the same place can be frustrating, but it's a test to your patience and adaptability.
In addition, if there aren't any other au pair in the city (as in my case), this is a boost to your confidence, to open up to people and to start making friends completely on your own!!
If you want to give a twist to your future and your capacities, Destino Idiomas is made for you!

During my time in Gijón, I spent two and a half months with the wonderful host family. Their kindness and Destino Idiomas support made my experience truly special. Ana also helped me connect with other au pairs which was incredibly helpful as well as inspiring.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves to travel but also be aware that with that you sometimes do a lot of things on your own. Despite that I got to see and experience the most incredible things that I will always cherish with me.

I had an amazing experience, I lived in Valladolid as an au pair for 8 months with the help of Destino Idiomas, along side finding me a lovely family to live with Ana was a great support in checking in if I ever needed anything and connecting me with other au pairs so that I could easily make friends.

This experience was also amazing for learning Spanish and being able to travel around and see Spain and other parts of Europe as well. Throughout my experience my host family took me traveling, taught me how to cook traditional Spanish dishes and included me as a part of their family.

I had an amazing experience being an Au pair in Spain. This was hugely part to Destino Idiomas and my host family. The process to becoming an au pair went smoothly with the help of Ana. I cannot thank my host family enough for the amazing experience. I was always made to feel welcome and supported by them. I was fortunate enough to go on a few trips with my host family and for them to show and teach me about Spanish culture.
I absolutely recommend Destino Idiomas to become an Au Pair in Spain!

I stayed in Gijon, which is a costal city in Asturias, in the north of Spain for a period of 12 weeks. Overall the experience was really good for me. I initially wanted to come to improve my Spanish, learn more bout the culture, and explore a bit too- in the end, I feel that as well as doing this, the experience has helped me further improve my confidence, learn how to deal with language barriers, and in my case due to befriending some international students in the area (from Europe and Latin America), my cultural knowledge of not only Spain significantly increased too.

Ana (from Destino Idiomas) was very helpful throughout the process, and patient with me. She made the matching process much easier, and consistently checked up on me once I was in Spain too. The family I was with had had au pairs before so were very welcoming from the start, didn’t mind clarifying things when I was uncertain, and all of my au pair duties were completely manageable. I found that I very quickly got used to the routine.

In terms of money, I ended up saving up less than I intended to, as my weekly spending was much higher than usual, but this was due to doing more than usual- my main costs were bus/train tickets to other cities, buying things such as snacks on trips, some hygiene products, and even a few souvenirs. But even though I personally didn’t end up saving up much, I still made enough to cover the costs of coming, so I had no net loss, and many of these costs could easily be reduced.

I believe au pairing is a great way to be completely immersed in the culture of a certain country. Personally, in my free time over the weekends, I often went out either exploring Gijon or other nearby cities and villages. Spain is a beautiful country and even in the early spring, there was lots of nature to be seen. I was able to do some short hiking routes, and I got to try some ‘typical’ Spanish foods from different places too.
Overall it was a great way for me to see another part of the world and experience another culture, I would highly recommend au pairing to anyone thinking about it and using Destino Idiomas to do so.

This was such an amazing experience for me to improve my Spanish, be fully immersed in Spanish culture, and form a strong relationship with my host family (who I continue to be in touch with to this day). Destino idiomas greatly helped the smoothness of the process and it was very easy for me to find a host family that suited me best. As I was offered a range of families in a range of locations.
I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone of a range of ages and previous experience. As even those with a lower language ability will still highly benefit from this.