Location
  • Spain
    • Madrid
Length
4 to 52 weeks

Program Details

Compensation
Non-Monetary Benefits
Timeframe
Fall J-Term Maymester Spring Summer Winter Year Round
Housing
Apartment
Language
English
Weekly Hours
20
Age Min.
18

Pricing

Starting Price
$3,645 USD
Price Details
This Adelante program includes a volunteer or internship placement in your sector of interest, airport pick up, housing in a private room in a shared apartment, 2 weeks of intensive Spanish classes, and 24/7 access to your local Program Director.
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities Airport Transfers Wifi
What's Not Included
Airfare Meals
Aug 27, 2020
Jul 09, 2021

About Program

Madrid is the most developed international program in Adelante's arsenal of programs with over 250+ participating companies. Who stands to gain the most out of that? YOU.

Take advantage of a professional internship program that provides a solid work, cultural, & life experience. A wide array of internship fields are offered to meet your needs and accelerate your professional development. In addition, you'll receive two weeks of intensive Spanish language classes included in our program to help sharpen your language skills and prepare you for your internship!

If you can't find your field below, do not fret! Visit Adelante's site for a complete list of internship fields. We can seek out new companies and create a customized program for you.

Take advantage of this unique opportunity and set your sights on interning in Madrid!

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Flexibility: Our programs start the 1st Monday of every month with year round start dates. Choose to intern anywhere from 1-6 months.
  • Centralized Housing: You'll have your own private room in a shared apartment close to shopping, public transportation, and nightlife.
  • Tailored Internship: Gain solid international career experience by interning in a locally owned Spanish company or an international corporation with offices in Madrid's cultural and economic hub!
  • Local Staff: Our programs are meant for the independent traveler and are not group-focused. Our on-site staff in Madrid and the US are available throughout your program, and you can truly immerse yourself in the culture however you wish.
  • Economical Pricing: We are budget friendly! Do your research; nearly all other programs are at least DOUBLE the price. Not to mention, housing is included in our program price. You'll have your own private room in a shared apartment.

Popular Programs

Internships abroad in Madrid

Adelante provides unique internship placements in the cultural hotspot of Barcelona. Over 30 sectors available, including medical, media, architecture, sports recreation, and more. All internships include two weeks of intensive Spanish language courses to prepare you for your program.

Program Reviews

8.88 Rating
based on 67 reviews
  • 9-10 rating 74.63%
  • 7-8 rating 22.39%
  • 5-6 rating 0%
  • 3-4 rating 1.49%
  • 1-2 rating 1.49%
  • Growth 8.5
  • Support 8.6
  • Fun 8.7
  • Housing 8.6
  • Safety 9.5
Showing 1 - 8 of 67 reviews
Default avatar
Asia
9/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Incredible Program!

Adelante provided me an incredible experience. This past summer I went to Madrid for the months June and July. It was my first time in Europe so naturally I was nervous, but the staff helped with all my questions and concerns. I had a ride when I got to the airport. They set me up with a beautiful apartment was in the city with a view and right next to the metro station. I absolutely loved the Spanish Class at Eureka. Ángel is literally and angel! He helped me so much and made my transition to Madrid to smooth! I learned so much from my internship and I got to meet so many amazing people from all over the world. Highly recommend!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone! When visiting a new country, immerse yourself into the culture! Try the foods, learn the history, go site seeing, and learn the language!
1 person found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Aisha
10/10
Yes, I recommend this program

didn't want to leave

This experience proves that even if you are an experienced professional, there is ALWAYS something new you can learn in life. My thanks to IberEnglish, my manager was incredible, their environment is wonderful, I felt comfortable, supported and safe there. Help was always there for me, both by Adelante and Eureka, whenever I needed it. The people in Spain are so warm, so kind and so generous. Truly, I know for a fact that I can be very happy living in Madrid, which is why I would love to come back. I need to work o my Spanish! Overall, a wonderful experience, especially with so much uncertainty due to COVID, going to Spain was the best decision I ever made.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?
For me, the most surprising thing I did was horse back riding in the mountains of Madrid!! I am not an experienced rider, but due to the fantastic host of the horse ranch, I got to experience riding a horse in the mountains! The views were exceptional!
5 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Emily
9/10
Yes, I recommend this program

5 Months in Madrid

This was a great experience for me. Adelante made things fairly straightforward when it came to applying to the program and getting set up with an internship in Madrid. The staff at Eureka Academia de Español was also wonderful and helped a lot in my time abroad. I thought the language classes there were extremely helpful. There was a learning curve with the internship, both for me and my employer, because they had never had an intern before. So, it took a few weeks to really figure out my role in the company. But, in about a month, I really felt like I was fitting in at Amapola Biocosmetics and was contributing to the company. My Spanish improved a ton in the 5 months I was there. I loved that there was always something to do in Madrid. There was always a new museum, bar, restaurant, cafe, club, or street to see. I met good friends in and out of the program. I loved my little apartment, which was right in the center of the city, so it made it easy to get everywhere. And I was able to travel around Spain as well on the weekends. I even made it to Morocco one weekend! A wonderful opportunity, and one that I will not forget anytime soon. I was lucky that I was able to complete my program before Coronavirus shut everything down!

What would you improve about this program?
I only had one issue with this program right at the beginning. It took a long time to find out where my internship would be. Finally, Adelante gave me the name of the company I would be with; however, the company had not actually confirmed if I would be able to intern there. Then, because it turned out the company had moved, I was placed with a different company. I realize this was out of the control of Adelante, but I do wish I had been kept more informed all the way through the process and been told why it was taking so long to place me. In the end, it worked out great, but in the week leading up to leaving, I was left feeling nervous that I wouldn't be placed!
16 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Madhu
8/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Adelante Helped Me Grow!

Adelante provided me with the resources to grow both personally and learn more about my field in a different country. Adelante staff prior to departure were quite helpful and answered all my questions as best as possible. Unfortunately, they only gave me information about my internship about two weeks prior to leaving and I would have preferred if they had more information earlier on to ease my mind. However, throughout my time in Spain, the staff in the US regularly checked in with me via email and sent me resources to better my transition. The two week course at Eureka was great and very laid-back; the teachers are fun and helpful and all of them actually want to teach, so it is a great way to review your Spanish before working. As a pharmacy student, I was given a position at one of the many farmacias in Spain and helped patients find the best medication for their illness, rang out patients, processed orders, and completed paperwork for the pharmacy. While the work got repetitive, I still learned a lot (especially about the Spanish healthcare system) because my coworkers were kind, interested in helping me improve and learn as a student, and explained anything I did not understand. I would suggest this program for those who are at least at a low intermediate level of Spanish because I was spoken to only in Spanish at my position and I know many positions at Adelante that are very similar. While there were no issues to report at my job, I would have felt comfortable reaching out to any of the Adelante staff if I did have any problems because they made it clear that they were there to help me. Adelante does a great job with housing because of its location in the center of Madrid and because they find a solution to problems or maintenance issues relatively quickly, especially if you physically speak to Angel who is the director of the Eureka language school.

What would you improve about this program?
I do wish the program was more hands-on about helping Adelante students living in the same city meet each other. While I did make many friends in Madrid mostly because I went out of my way to do so or got lucky with some of my roommates, I know that there were other Adelante students living in the city who I didn't have a chance to meet because we weren't in the same language class or apartment. I would suggest Adelante to maybe host an orientation upon arrival, a monthly potluck, or a monthly dinner to help foster friendships.
13 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Alicja
8/10
Yes, I recommend this program

An honest review of the pros and cons of interning with Adelante

I spent 2 months in Madrid working in a LGBT public health office. My experience living in this beautiful city was phenomenal being that I was immersed in Spanish culture. The nightlife is amazing, as you'd imagine, and I made great friends both inside and outside the program. We loved visiting other Spanish cities as well as Portugal whenever we got the chance. I really enjoyed my time at the Spanish school as everyone was extremely supportive and I learned a lot in a short period of time. All my coworkers were also lovely and helped me improve my Spanish skills throughout my time there. I do feel that it is important to mention though that you should take the Spanish language skill required by adelante seriously. Some internships do require a higher level of speaking and if you are dishonest with adelante about your ability there isn't much they can do to help if your boss becomes dissatisfied. Additionally, I will say that my expectations were not fully met on the adelante side. My original desire was to work in a hospital or clinic and although the backup plan of public health was established over the phone and I agreed to it, I got the sense that the Plan B discussed became the default for myself and the other interns I spoke to. I believe I only met 2 interns that were fully satisfied with their work placement and received their Plan A. However, in this situation I believe you get what you pay for being that adelante is securing an internship for you even if its not ideal. To me and many of the others this didn't end up being a big issue as we grew to like our placements, but if youre passionate about working in one specific area to really build your resume, adelante may not be the right fit.
Conclusion: Adelante provided me with the opportunity to live and work in Madrid which was most definitely one of the best experiences of my life. I feel as if the internship placement could have been better, but being the most affordable program I found, I'm far from dissatisfied.

14 people found this review helpful.
Nick
10/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Had an amazing time in Madrid, thanks to Adelante!

I shadowed a doctor in Madrid for around four months, and it was the most amazing time of my life. Adelante made the setup process extremely easy, and it was very affordable as well. They were very flexible and accommodating in setting up the perfect internship for me. My doctor was also amazing, and I learned much about respiratory and cardiovascular health while there. I also got a unique look into Medicine in a different culture than my own. The first two weeks of Spanish classes that Adelante provides was very helpful in getting me started. Overall a great experience thanks to Adelante, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a different experience than just taking classes abroad.

The people at Adelante regularly check in to make sure you are enjoying the program and are safe. They are there for whenever you need them and truly provide a great abroad experience.

What would you improve about this program?
I loved the program, but maybe a little more clarity about the various internship options that are available to you, instead of just being set up with one. Turned out great for me though!
15 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Mattia
8/10
Yes, I recommend this program

Internship in Madrid

The main reason why my experience was unique is due to the type of company I worked for and activities that I was able to perform. When I discovered that my university program required me to work for a full school year in a foreign country I was worried that I would have had to take part in one of those classic, mundane and monotonous 9-5 jobs which involved performing tasks while sat at a desk in front of a computer screen. This is basically the equivalent of suicide to someone like me who loves living his life outdoors performing sporting activities. Thanks to Adelante's program, however, I was able to find a football club in Madrid that allowed me to actively participate in their training sessions, as well as help out coaches in as many ways as possible during the sessions. My university accepted the program and I was able to spend these 7 months here about as well as I could have ever hoped for.

What was your funniest moment?
Coaches' reactions to players performing exercises incorrectly. No doubt. Hilarious.
14 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
jonathan
4/10
No, I don't recommend this program

scam that takes advantage of young adults

arrived in Madrid with a "guaranteed" internship in an Alzheimers lab for psychology. after two weeks in the Spanish school was told my level wasn't high enough as the internship was something that required near perfect fluency. no alternatives were then offered and three months of my life were wasted if not for me strengthening my Spanish further, had I gone just through their school which was amazing and actual responsible for everything that Adelante claims to actually do I would have paid only half of the cost. still waiting for my refund which the program seems to be mute on ... I guess sign contracts don't mean much to some companies... avoid at all costs unless you want some basic internship that provides you with no actual experience

What would you improve about this program?
program should be shut down as it only has a short list of companies to work with and it seems to be common practice to oversell internships to students then not deliver upon arrival as this happened to another American who arrived during my last month.
14 people found this review helpful.
Response from Adelante Abroad

Jonathan, thanks for taking the time to write out your thoughts however you are forgetting so many things! The most important one is of course, that you cheated on the language level test to get accepted into the program in the first place. Our Intern Abroad program requirements are pretty clear, published in many places for a reason, and a low intermediate level of Spanish is one of them. When a person applies, a free online language test is part of the initial application process. Accepted candidates do not have to be anywhere near fluent or advanced, but must have enough Spanish – a low intermediate level - to be able to understand a directive in the workplace and reply back in short sentences. The test results you sent us showed a solid B1, low intermediate, Spanish language level, therefore you were accepted into the program. Upon arrival in Madrid, however, you were unable to qualify for the BEGINNER level of the two weeks of Spanish classes included in all programs!
Then, on your first day at your contracted internship, in Spain, you were unable to understand a simple question and worse, replied back to your Spanish supervisor in English. Of course, they terminated your internship at that point, however they did offer to re-assess after a few more weeks of Spanish classes. This was a huge favor. They had your placement ready and waiting for you, projects lined up, a Supervisor scheduled to be in charge of you. And all that had to be cancelled. This is a successful, national corporation working in the Psychology arena, specifically with Alzheimer’s and other memory related illnesses. They were ready and waiting for you. It is logical that they terminated: you are in Spain, interning in a Spanish owned or run corporation and, again, while you do not need to be fluent, you do need, of course, to be able to understand and to be understood. Hence our stated language level requirement.
Our refund policy is also very clear and published in many places. We have reminded you, upon your request for a refund, that we provided all services paid for, and as contracted and in a timely manner. It certainly isn’t Adelante Abroad’s fault that you presented in all required documentation that you were an intermediate speaker, when you were actually pre-beginner upon arrival.
We stand by our very successful Intern Abroad programs, in operation since 1999, with literally hundreds of public reviews, the overwhelming majority of which are from candidates outlining strong and positive experiences overseas.

Questions & Answers