The Best Spanish Classes in Madrid in 2026: 5 Ranked for Evening Learners

In Madrid, Spanish is what the bar, the landlord and the neighbours speak, and Inhispania, Expanish and LAE start their evening classes between 18:00 and 19:30, after work. The best class is the one that has you saying Spanish out loud, to someone who answers, not just following it.

This guide is for adults in Madrid who work during the day and want an evening course: people who have moved for a job, a partner or the weather, and who would like to order, ask and argue in Spanish rather than point. It compares four schools' twelve-week evening courses and Echoa on five criteria, with one pick for each kind of learner.

How we ranked them

We compared five options on the five things that most help an evening learner actually speak:

1. Speaking time per hour: how much of each hour you spend saying Spanish yourself. For a class, at most the hour divided by the group size the school states.
2. Feedback: whether someone answers or corrects what you actually said.
3. Hours for the money: the hours in class that the twelve-week price buys.
4. Flexibility: whether it fits round work, and how soon you can start.
5. Honest price: the published price, with registration and enrolment fees named, from each school's own website.

Every school ranked here is priced on the same basis: 12 weeks of evening group classes. Prices were checked in November 2026.

Should you use more than one?

Yes, and for most people it is the quickest way to speak. Every school ranked here teaches on two evenings a week (at Inhispania and LAE, Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday; at Expanish, Tuesday and Thursday; at International House, by level), which leaves five days without a class. The class gives you a teacher, a timetable and a reason to cross Madrid twice a week; speaking practice on the other days keeps Tuesday's Spanish there for Thursday. Twenty minutes of saying sentences out loud on the days without a class does more than another hour of listening to other people's.

When to upgrade from your first pick

After a term or two, many learners in Madrid can follow the class and still go quiet when the bar asks a follow-up question at speed. That is the point to add more speaking, not another grammar term. A private tutor gives you the whole hour: about €24–26 an hour on average on Preply. If you would rather pay less for many more hours, the state language school, EOI Madrid-Jesús Maestro, teaches a whole A1 of about 120 hours for about €220, four evenings a week for a term; places go through an admission process (EOI Jesús Maestro admission for the January–May Spanish term is published at the end of November).

Which one should you choose?

Pick the one that fixes where you get stuck.

• You want a small group and as many hours as possible: Inhispania.
• You understand Spanish but freeze when you have to say it: Echoa, every day, for €39 a month.
• You want the lowest course price among the schools: LAE Madrid.
• You want the same two evenings every week and to start at the beginning of any month: Expanish.
• You like a proper term with fixed dates: International House Madrid.

Most people will want one class and one other. If speaking is what worries you, make the other one Echoa. Lesson 1 takes about 15 minutes and the first 3 lessons are free. No card needed.

Frequently asked questions

How much do Spanish classes in Madrid cost?

Twelve weeks of evening group classes cost about €360–560 at the schools above, for 35–50 hours in class, which works out at about €10 to €14 an hour, plus registration or enrolment fees at most of them. Echoa is €39 a month for every language course, with the first 3 lessons free. Private tutors charge about €24–26 an hour on average on Preply.

Are there cheaper or free Spanish classes in Madrid?

Yes, at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas, members of general-category large families pay half (about €110 instead of about €220 for A1); members of special-category large families, victims of terrorism or gender violence and people with a disability of 33% or more pay nothing. Everyone else pays about €220 there for a whole A1 term at the Jesús Maestro school, four evenings a week. Escuela Hablamos, priced by the month, charges about €110 a month for two 80-minute classes a week, plus a €55 registration fee, including the textbook.

How long does it take to reach A1 in an evening course?

Longer than twelve weeks at Inhispania, the one school that says: A1 takes 15 weeks in its evening course (5 weeks intensive). The EOI covers A1 in one four-month term of about 120 hours.

What Spanish do I need for Spanish citizenship?

Naturalisation asks for a DELE at A2 or above and the CCSE test on the Constitution and Spanish society; nationals of Spanish-speaking countries are exempt from the language test. The fees are about €140 for the DELE A2 exam in Spain (2026) and €85 for the CCSE citizenship test (2026).

Can I take Spanish classes online instead?

Yes. Lingoda runs live online group classes of 3–5 students, at about €60 for five classes, on a plan that renews every four weeks. Echoa is the other online route: no live class, a 15-minute speaking lesson whenever suits you, with Sam answering every sentence. If you would rather teach yourself with an app, see Babbel vs Pimsleur for Spanish.

How many evenings a week should I study?

Two evenings a week is what every school ranked above offers. What makes the difference is the days in between: a short burst of speaking on most days keeps what you learnt in class from fading before the next one.

About Echoa

Spanish. Accelerated. Echoa is a speaking course on your phone or computer, in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian. In each 15-minute lesson you build sentences and say them out loud, and Sam answers every one. Real conversations in 20 hours. A2 in weeks, not years. It costs €39 a month for every language course, and the first 3 lessons are free. Learning a different language? We also compare classes for German courses in Zurich, French classes in Paris, Portuguese classes in Lisbon, Dutch courses in Amsterdam and Italian classes in Rome.