Southern Europe
Video Chat with People from Spain
Spain keeps late hours. Dinner around 9 or 10 PM is normal, and on summer nights the plazas stay busy past midnight. The mainland uses Central European Time (UTC+1, or UTC+2 in summer) even though much of it lies west of London, which is part of why sunsets come so late; the Canary Islands run an hour behind. A 10 PM chat in Madrid falls in the afternoon on the US East Coast.
Spanish (Castilian) is spoken everywhere, and Catalan, Galician and Basque are co-official in their regions, so someone from Barcelona, Santiago de Compostela or Bilbao may switch languages with friends. English comfort varies and is more common in big cities and along the coast. Good topics: tapas and Basque pintxos, paella in Valencia, LaLiga and the Real Madrid–Barcelona rivalry, flamenco in Andalusia, festivals like Las Fallas, walking the Camino de Santiago, and island life in the Canaries or the Balearics. Practicing? Try our Spanish phrase guide.
Spain at a glance
| Flag | 🇪🇸 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Kingdom of Spain |
| Capital | Madrid |
| Region | Europe · Southern Europe |
| Official language | Spanish |
| Currency | Euro (€, EUR) |
| Calling code | +34 |
| Time zones | Central European Time (Europe/Madrid); Western European Time (Atlantic/Canary) |
How to say hello
A few words of Spanish make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? | OH-lah, keh TAHL | Hi! How's it going? |
| Spanish | ¡Buenas! | BWEH-nahs | Hi! (short for 'buenos días' or 'buenas tardes') |
| Catalan | Bon vespre! | bon BES-pruh | Good evening! |
| Basque | Kaixo! | KAI-show | Hi! |
Tips for chatting with people from Spain
- In Spain 'tú' is the norm in casual conversation, even with people you've just met; 'usted' can sound distant unless someone is much older.
- Tortilla de patatas with or without onion is a famously friendly debate, so ask which side they're on.
- If you learned Latin American Spanish, mention it. People enjoy comparing words like 'coche' and 'carro', and you'll hear 'vosotros' here.
- 'Buenas tardes' lasts until it gets dark, often well into the evening; when in doubt, a simple 'Buenas' covers it.
Only meet people from Spain
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Spain, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Spain and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Spain, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Spain are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Spain borders 5 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: