Whilst the interest once dominated by British people in Torrevieja has declined considerably, the desire to learn the Spanish language is still in abundance in other communities, so much so the official language school is unable to keep up with demand.
The Official Language School (EOI) of Torrevieja is, along with other official teaching centres, one of the schools with the greatest demand for Spanish classes for foreigners. The centre also offers teaching in other languages such as French, German, Italian, Russian and Valencian. A diversity of languages that makes the EOI of Torrevieja the centre with the most enrolments in the Vega Baja region.
Due to the presence of a great diversity of nationalities in the city, 120, there are many foreigners who want to learn the language to facilitate their integration process into Spanish society. Specifically, the EOI of Torrevieja currently has 2,400 enrolled in Spanish classes for foreigners.
Due to this increase in the foreign population, the director of the centre, Juan Manuel Margalef, regrets not being able to provide an offer proportional to demand. Specifically, of the last 1,400 registration applications for Spanish teaching for foreigners, they have only been able to accept 350 due to a “lack of personnel and resources.” “We are trying to deal with a demand that is six times greater than the supply we can cover,” a situation that he describes as “catastrophic” and a “humanitarian problem.”
Due to this lack of resources that the EOI regrets, 1,300 foreigners have been left on the waiting list to be able to enrol in Spanish classes, a list that the director of the centre describes as “devastating.”
