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Spain's English skills have hit a plateau, landing the country fourth from bottom in the EU according to the latest EF English Proficiency Index released on Wednesday. With 540 points, Spain just ahead of France, Cyprus and Italy, but miles behind leaders like the Netherlands (624), Croatia (617), Austria (616), Germany (615) and even Portugal (612). The score has actually slipped since peaking at 550 back in 2014, and now we're stuck.

 

Regional differences tell their own story. Galicia leads the pack at 563 points, comfortably in the "high proficiency" bracket alongside Switzerland and Estonia. At the other end, Castilla-La Mancha scores a low 509 (alongside Dominican Republic and Bangladesh levels), with Extremadura (514), Andalucía (526) and Murcia (529) not far behind. Teachers point to uneven management by Spain's autonomous communities as the main culprit, often mirroring general educational performance. Galicia excels in PISA rankings too, for instance.

 

Why the gap? Gregory Michael from Universidad San Pablo CEU in Madrid suggests Spaniards don't feel the same urgency as others. "As there are many Spanish speakers worldwide, citizens don't see so much need to learn another language," he explains. Galicia benefits from tourism jobs, emigration history and a trilingual push (one third of classes in Spanish, one third Galician, one third English).

 

 

In contrast, Javier Sánchez-Verdejo, teaching in Tomelloso (Ciudad Real), blames poor planning in Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalucía. "Bilingual programmes haven't been well conceived and they started building the house from the roof because they didn't invest in properly training teachers," he says. Madrid brings in multiple classroom assistants per school and demands C1 level English from staff, while Castilla-La Mancha accepts B1 with a good report.

 

Nearly 1.5 million pupils study in bilingual programmes after two decades, yet results disappoint. Xavier Gisbert, who pioneered Madrid's model 20 years ago, laments declining commitment. "Autonomous communities worked hard to develop bilingual programmes, but quality has been neglected and interest lost," he notes. Spaniards shine in reading and listening, but speaking remains weak. "We have a lot of fear of speaking in public and making mistakes," adds Sánchez-Verdejo.

 

Education First's Gemma Ollé urges more real conversation practice from early years. Better English could boost jobs, attract talent and help Spanish businesses compete globally.