“Do you speak English? Yes”, the Spaniards who attend this language exchange workshop answer increasingly frequently, as do their foreign colleagues when asked if they speak Spanish. These classes are proving to be very fruitful, as one of the students, Johan Schiphorst, stated in fairly good Spanish that “they are very good for practising the Spanish language and even more so because every time we meet we deal with different topics”.
Another of the students attending the classes at the La Cala Senior Citizens Centre, Theo Van Beusekom, said that he came to the  classes to improve his ability to understand the Spaniards, as “the most difficult thing is to communicate on the phone because most of them speak very fast”.
Johan and Theo are two Dutch citizens who have been living in Mijas for some years now. They have been attending these classes for some time, where, they emphasised, they have also made friends and learned about everything that is happening here and in their home country. “Oh, we talk about everything a bit, about politics, the weather.... And as there are also Dutch people, we talk about how life is in Holland, we talk about everything”, said Theo.
These meetings take place weekly, from 10:00 to 11:30 hours in the senior citizen centres of the municipality. In Mijas Pueblo, on Tuesdays; in La Cala, on Wednesdays; and in Las Lagunas, on Thursdays. The Department for Foreigners is responsible for coordinating this activity. The councillor in charge, Arancha López (Cs), accompanied them on Wednesday the 15th. López encouraged the residents to attend these classes which “are totally free, so whoever is interested, can come and contact the coordinator and enjoy good company”.
More and more participants are keen to improve their level of English and Spanish. “On occasions, we have had up to 40 participants in one class, therefore, from the Department for Foreigners, we continue to support this workshop which, as they tell us, enables them to practise the language, half an hour in Spanish and half an hour in English, and also helps to maintain  social relations among themselves, meeting people, getting to know other cultures and other traditions”, concluded councillor López.

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