Several months ago, I made a move to La Rioja. I no longer live in the Granada.
You’re probably saying to yourself “okay where in the heck is La Rioja?” If you know me personally, you’re probably saying “okay I think that’s in Spain because it sounds like Spanish and I know Nina lives in Spain. But beyond that, I have no idea.” And if it just so happens that you’re a wine nerd, then you might have heard the name La Rioja somewhere as you did that swirl and sniff thing. Either way, the majority of you probably have no idea where or what La Rioja is.
First of all, La Rioja is located in Spain. It’s one of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities (basically like states in Spain). It is the smallest region and it’s largest city has a population of only about 150,000 people. That city is called Logroño and much like La Rioja, I doubt you’ve ever heard of it either.
So why did I move to La Rioja? After all, I was living in Granada of all cities. The historic and absolutely stunning city in the Andalucía region. The region with good weather and the city of free tapas. Well, the main reason was that my teaching program only lets us teach in Andalucía for two years. So, I was kind of kicked out. However I decided to take it as an opportunity to experience Spain in a new way. So I chose a region that’s 8 hours to the North. Not exactly close by.
When people ask me why I chose to move to La Rioja, I actually have a long list of reasons. So, I thought I would share them here on the blog. If you are an auxiliar like me, I wanted to write this so that you keep La Rioja in mind as you’re putting down your preferences for next year. So many people forget about La Rioja, which is a shame! So, here’s why I chose to move to La Rioja for my third year as an auxiliar.
Why you should move to La Rioja
1. On-time payments
We all like to pretend that money isn’t important. While it doesn’t buy us happiness, we still need it to pay rent and eat. One downside of the auxiliares de conversación program is late payments. Some regions (Andalucía and Murcia) have a reputation for late payments. I also experienced this first hand. In Andalucía, the schools receive a grant from the government and then use that to pay the auxiliar. For some reason unbeknownst to everyone, that grant arrives in January. You would think September makes sense, but this is Spain. Oftentimes things just don’t make sense.
My first year, I was placed at a tiny pueblo school who couldn’t pay me until the money arrived. Luckily, I taught private lessons and was able to get by until the money arrived in December (after other people had contacted the US Embassy to speed things up a bit). My second year, my school had money in their budget to pay me on time. In Andalucía, it really just depends on your school.
I knew that in my third year, I didn’t want late payments. I had heard from everyone that La Rioja always pays on time. After I arrived, I learned that in fact they do. Instead of your school paying you, the autonomous community pays you directly. They organize it all so that every auxiliar gets paid on time. Now they do have a lot less auxiliares than Andalucía, so it’s easier to control that. Either way, I’m just glad that my money arrives on time every month. This has really helped me in my move to La Rioja since moving regions involves some money.
2. It’s solidly Spanish
I absolutely love speaking Spanish. I take every opportunity I can to speak it. However there are parts of Spain where it’s not the only language spoken. For example, in the Basque Country, they speak Euskera as well as Spanish. In Catalonia (where Barcelona is), Catalan is also spoken. In Galicia, they speak Gallego as well. I’m not knocking any of these places. They’re all absolutely beautiful and the people can also speak Spanish, but it’s not quite the same as immersion.
A lot of people are okay with enough Spanish to buy groceries and order food. Their circle of friends are mostly other expats and they might practice Spanish with a regular intercambio partner. That is totally okay and I’m not knocking it. I, however, always wanted more out of my experience in Spain. I wanted to be in a group of Spaniards, fully immersed. I knew that in regions like Catalonia or Galicia, people probably speak their local language amongst each other. I didn’t want to be a situation where I understand nothing and they have to translate back to Spanish for me all the time.
In La Rioja, Spanish is the only language spoken. The accent is very clear and easy to understand (unlike Andalucía). I joke that it’s more or less textbook Spanish. So I knew that this sort of situation would never happen. Furthermore, there aren’t a ton of English speakers. Therefore, I speak Spanish wherever I go. No one ever switches for me since most of them cannot.
So if your goals in moving to Spain are improving your Spanish and reaching fluency, a move to La Rioja is the perfect thing to do! You will have so many opportunities to not just speak it, but be fully immersed in it.
3. 95% of the placements are commutable from Logroño
One thing that we all fear is living in a teeny, tiny pueblo. I mean we want to live in Spain, but we also want to be able to travel on weekends and have a social life. In a move to La Rioja, you won’t have to fear living in a pueblo. Because the region is small, you can commute from the capital city of Logroño to basically any town you get placed in.
I got placed in Nájera, which is just a half an hour bus ride from Logroño. There are buses that go basically every half an hour from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., making the commute easy. Oddly enough, I chose to live in my pueblo this year. You can read about why here.
While Logroño isn’t the biggest city in Spain, it has an amazing nightlife and lots of fun things to do. It’s a great city to get placed in for a year or two. You will not get bored living there.
Another note about commuting and placements is to reach out to your school about a carpool. Often times the teachers live in the bigger city and carpool. You can pay them a little bit each month for gas and ride with them to school. This is often a bit comfier and a great way to get to know your coworkers. I did this my first year, and it worked out fantastically. It allowed me to live in Granada, which was amazing!
4. It’s a great region for weekend travels
Travel was another reason I moved to Spain. As a travel blogger, I always want to find new places to write about. The North is full of new cities to see.
From Logroño alone, you can take day trips to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pamplona, Burgos and many adorable smaller towns. For a weekend getaway, you’re not too far from Zaragoza, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Barcelona, Madrid and Austurias. All of these places are full of so much history, culture and amazing food!
I have a long list of places I want to see this year and I’ve only checked off a few. I’m excited to see what my move to La Rioja has in store for me!
5. The people are nice
In general, I’ve had a great experience with the people here in La Rioja. I live with a Spanish family and work at two schools. In general, everyone has been very nice and helpful. All of the teachers I work with are very friendly and easy to work with.
You of course can find people you dislike anywhere you go. However I have found the people in La Rioja to be nice and easy to live with. In general they are polite as well.
6. The wine
The thing that La Rioja is probably most famous for is the wine. There are simply a lot of wineries in this region. In fact, when you order a glass of wine in Spain, they will often ask you “Ribera o Rioja?” They’re asking you which region you want your wine from. That’s how important La Rioja is in regards to wine.
This means that first of all, wine is cheap. In Nájera, there’s a place where I can get a glass for 1€. Second, if you love wine, you can learn a lot about it. You can actually tour the bodegas (wineries) where the wine is made. That is one of the many things on my long list of things to do in La Rioja this year.
7. The food
The food in La Rioja is simply to die for. First of all, I’m sure many of you are thinking “hmm …. their biggest city only has a population of 150,000. It’s probably super boring to live there.” Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Logroño has quite an active night life. All you have to do is go out on Calle Laurel, and you will find it full of people from roughly 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Up in the North, the tapas are called pinchos. While they’re not free with a drink like in Granada, they’re not that expensive.
Friday and Saturday nights out in Logroño typically consist of going from bar to bar, eating pinchos and drinking wine or beer. So if you also enjoy good and cheap food, consider a move to La Rioja!
8. I had a friend who lived here and loved it
Personal references often speak louder than anything. The fact is, I first came to La Rioja in 2015 on my first trip to Spain. Amongst visits to cities like Barcelona and Sevilla, we also went to Logroño. Why Logroño? Well, I didn’t plan the trip.
When I first started learning Spanish again as an adult, I took classes with Coffee Shop Spanish. My Spanish tutor Daniel had really become fluent living in Spain. He spent time both studying and working in Logroño. So when he organized a trip for some of his students, he included his old home in the itinerary. I suppose he wanted to show us a less-traveled to part of Spain that he loves.
We only spent maybe two days in Logroño, but we met his friends and old coworkers. We ate pinchos and explored the city. Between that experience and how highly he always spoke of the region, I always kept it in mind. So when it came time to switch regions, making a move to La Rioja was at the top of my list.
Where will you go?
If you’re considering a move to Spain, but are unsure as to where, do not write off a move to La Rioja. I hope that this list has helped you to see why I love La Rioja and why it could be a good place to move to!
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