Accounting/Tax Internship in Madrid

I had a good experience with Adelante and their program in Madrid. I’ll break my experience down to the categories:

Adelante Support Staff: I had to get a visa because I was there for more than 90 days. They were VERY helpful and even gave me a letter saying I had paid for the program (when I still hadn’t yet) so that I could get my visa from the consulate in Chicago. They were also good at responding quickly to emails and questions, which is important because they do all their interaction and communication via phone and email.

Housing: I chose the “live with Spaniards” option, which really means living with other international students. That ended up still being nice because we all still spoke Spanish and I got to sample a tiny bit more of European life through them. My flat mates were from France, Belgium, and there was one Spaniard. There were 6 people total and two bathrooms in the unit, each with our own bedroom. One thing I will say is that the housing service (called Aluni) that they use is a bit disorganized. I got WAY overcharged for the housing deposit and it took them awhile to return it. They also claimed I hadn’t turned in the keys at the end, which I did, they just hadn’t checked the mailbox. You also have to buy your own food at the grocery store, so take that into account in the cost of the program.

Two week Spanish classes: I actually really enjoyed these. You take a test that places you in a certain level and you learn pretty standard grammar, idiomatic phrases, etc. not related to your internship. They also give you a book that you can keep that has literally ALL the grammar rules of Spanish. That was really helpful. I also befriended a lot of other Europeans who were in my class and visited one of them after she returned home to German.

Internship: My unpaid internship was good, not phenomenal, but good. I worked at a law office about 20 minutes away from my flat and did a tax project the whole time. I mostly learned about different income tax rates in 60 different countries. My boss was nice but not around too often. One thing though, most of the people in who worked in the office were German, so they spoke German all the time. There was one guy who spoke fluent Spanish, so I talked with him in Spanish. But the others only spoke German or English, so I had to communicate in English with them. At the end I got a letter of recommendation after asking for one.

Daily Life: After my internship I would always have a new neighborhood or part of the city that I wanted to explore. That was good because by the end I knew so much about the city and where things were. A lot of Spaniards commented that I knew the city/metro/buses better than they did by the end. I also went to language exchanges at coffee shops on certain nights to practice my Spanish even more.

Overall: Overall, I liked the program and would recommend it, but not to everyone. You have to be VERY independent and well organized. If you’re someone who’s used to people doing stuff for you/structuring things for you then you may find yourself bored simply because you don’t know what to do after your internship gets done every day. Also, you have to be outgoing. You can befriend your roommates but if you want to meet Spaniards/have Spanish friends then you have to be willing to go out of your way to meet them, as the program doesn't give you a ton of opportunities to organically meet Spaniards. I joined a free Spanish online dating website, which actually ended up being an excellent way to meet people (not just romance either, you can meet friends too!).