Terms and Conditions: Adult Courses

Spark in the interests of the consumer has adapted its contract of enrollment and general conditions to coincide not only with all legal requirements needed under Spanish law but also to any general code of conduct outlined by the associations and organizations in which we are part of. Please note if you wish to see our privacy policy it is at the link provided.

***Although these terms and conditions may be translated in other languages we only guarantee that the English is the fully updated version. Summer Camp and School Group programmes (usually these are provided with your quote) have their own additional terms and conditions.***

To Jump to specific conditions click on links provided: * Class * Accommodation * Cultural Events *Payment *Cancellation *General *Data Protection Information

Payment Terms and Conditions

• ***The below conditions apply to clients only for our Adult Courses + Teen Programmes and do not apply to partner companies or school parties or for summer camp enrolments.  Students who book with partner companies are subject to their terms and conditions.***
  • Payments in all cases are only accepted in euros €.  The sender is responsible for any currency conversion costs.
  • Payment can be made via:
    • Credit card  (1,5% handing fee is charged to all courses excluding one to one and evening course).
    • Bank transfer (all transfer commission must be paid by the sender in this case the student).
    • Cash in Spark (if able to pay in person in Spark BEFORE the course starts)
  • Payment by Bank Transfer: As the person transferring the money, Students are responsible for bank charges.
    • For all transfers you must indicate to your bank that all transfer costs will be covered by you as the sender.
    • In the case that Spark was charged for the client transferring the money, Spark remains the right to request payment for the amount charged.
    • Bank Account Details:
      • Spark address: Calle de las Espadas 6, El Puerto de Santa Maria, 11500, Cadiz, España.
      • Bank address: Spark Languages S.L., Bankinter, Centro de Gestion Jerez, C/ Porvera 3, 11403 Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz, España.
      • IBAN: ES90 0128 7723 8201 0000 2184
      • BIC (Bank Identification Code): BKBKESMM
    • It is possible to request a payment plan but unless you request this it is taken for granted you are paying all in one go
    • No course or programme is guaranteed until you have completed full payment or made at least a 25% downpayment when you request a payment plan.
    • 25% downpayment (or 25% if all paid) will never be refunded in case of cancellation unless special circumstances exist and be verified with Spark. No refund within 2 months of the start of the programme is possible.
    • In all cases full payment must be completed 2 weeks before the start of course.
    • To be entitled to a long term discount or special agreed discount ALL payment must be made prior to the start of the course, although it could be done through multiple payments in installations, as stated above.
    • Once your payment has been received (note this is when it arrives to our bank, if doing a bank transfer usually a few days after doing the transfer and sometimes more), we will send you an email confirming your booking dates within a working week and usually much quicker.
    • In the case that the available week or accommodation was not available, Spark would refund the payment in full if an alternative week or accommodation could not be arranged.
    • If bookings or payment had been done via a third party, rather than with Spark, any refund would be subject to their conditions and not those of Spark.
    • All prices are charged at the rate of the product on our website sparkspanish.com at the moment of booking a course or, if buying via a third party, as their conditions in the moment of purchasing.  Prices cannot be taken up by Spark if our prices later increase and likewise cannot be reduced if a later different offer is available, the second is also the case with offer advertisements done via third parties who will have, and have been responsible for, their own terms and conditions.

Cancellation Conditions Student:

• With a minimum of 20 days advance notice, the Centre will reimburse a student full payment less the registration and any commissions.  In case of accommodation, any reimbursement will depend on the costs we ourselves have assumed and conditions of renters.  Usually with Sparkville we would be able to reimburse most of the payment minus 10% fee, but other types of accommodation, will depend on conditions agreed with that supplier and usually there would be minimum 10% admin fee and sometimes more, depending on the type of accommodation.
• If a student bought their course via an agent or third party, the reimbursement would depend on the agent’s terms and conditions and not on ours.
• If notice is given with less than 20 days, then the student will be required to pay two weeks of the course and accommodation for which they signed up for.
• Students who start but do not finish their programme will not be reimbursed any course fees.
• Spark can not provide a refund for students failing to turn up for a course.  This includes factors which may not of been of the student’s causing i.e. flight cancellations, environment happenings (volcanic ash etc…). Students would have to contract their own insurance to cover for these types of unlikely occurrences.
• Individual courses need to be cancelled at least a full working day before the class. If a class is cancelled with less than a full working day’s notice, the student will be charged for that lesson as normal.
• In case of a cancellation of a DELE course, the same reimbursement guidelines apply as for the General Course, but the student will not be reimbursed for the any exam fee which they paid as Cervantes will not reimburse these.

Cancellation Conditions Spark:

• Spark reserves the right to modify or cancel totally or partially any course, activity or service provided and in this very unlikely event of happening, guarantees to inform the client immediately and offer them a full refund.  Cancelling a course is a very unlikely occurrence but possible reasons for cancellations or modification of programmes could be:
• Not reaching a minimum number of students which we believe is needed for the good or fun running of a course.
• Weather conditions and factors outside of our control.
• Travel and legal restrictions in Spain making it impossible to realize the service.
• In unlikely case of need due to covid regulations to cancel a course, students will be offered a full refund for any course that has NOT yet started, however in the event the course is already taking place the course will pass to an online format and continue as normal. One to one classes already started and evening course already started will be offered no refunds but as said the classes will take place as normal but via an online format.

Classes Terms and Conditions:

• At Spark we have a syllabus with 6 levels coinciding with the Common European Framework, although students should note, that due to being a small personal school, we will not have all levels running at one time which is why students should check their level and weeks to ensure they join the courses in the right weeks.  We have an online level test to ensure this. Our evening courses offer 3 class groups (broadly speaking: Elementary, intermediate and advanced) with students grouped into the level that best suits them.
• Our average number of students per class is 3-5 students.  Our maximum number of students per class is 9 but due to possible changes in level after the course has started it is possible on rare occasions this number may go up to 10 or 11, although this is extremely rare.
• No additional payment for group courses, beyond the registration fee, exists for the purchasing of textbooks.  All students will be given a textbook, even for a 1 week courses, and any long term students who go up a level will also be provided with a new textbook free of charge (please note most other Spanish centres will charge students separately for textbooks).  We also operate a purchase back system for any in-date textbook (3€ per book) used on a course which is still in perfect condition and not written in that the students do not wish to take with them.
  • All students will be provided with a course book that is in near perfect condition, although at times this might be a book that had been used by a previous student, but will never have been written in.
• Spark takes running its Spanish courses very seriously and for this reason we ask students to have the attitude that attending class (which will always be great fun!) is not an optional thing but a requirement as we know missing class will have its effect on your learning and enjoyment of your stay with us.
• In the event a student who has paid for a group class ends up being the only student in a class, the length of the course would be changed from the normal 3 or 4 hours (including 15 mins break) to 2hours (no break). If the student were in the group class for first 2 hours then on their own thereafter, cause all other students were doing the 2 hour Half General Spanish class, the student would receive one more additional hour one to one with a 15 min break in between the two parts of classes. If there were only 2 students in class the total class length could also be changed in the same way. Both these cases exist to reflect the fact the student will naturally learn and progress quicker with one to one attention and also that one to one classes are much more intensive and tiring for the student.
• Class timetable: General Spanish Classes will normally take place in the morning.  Also on rare occasions in high season, or when Spark has a visiting school group, classes may take place in the afternoon.  We reserve right to make this timetable changes as needed but would inform the students ahead of time.
• Our classes are conducted a 100% in Spanish, we ask students to respect this rule as much as possible and refrain from using their own language, or another language, in class as much as is possible.  Certain courses, for example the beginners and over 50s courses, will be more tolerant with this.
• In case of individual classes, Spark must be warned with 24 working hour’s notice if they need to cancel a class, otherwise this class will be counted as a normal lesson. Please note this is working hours, for example: a Monday 15.00 class has to be cancelled on Friday by 15.00. This policy exists as otherwise there is not sufficient time to warn the teacher and amend their contracted hours.

Accommodation Terms and Conditions:

• Accommodation runs from the Sunday before the course to Saturday at the end of the course.  Arrival on Sunday is from 16.30-23.30 and departure on the Saturday before 12.00.
  • Extra nights can be purchased from Spark before or after the course.  Check in times must be arranged ahead of time for these.  The Saturday night post (not before) the course  has a special rate, called flexi night.  Check out must be done before 10.30 on this day in order to allow time for cleaning of the room for new guests.
• All students staying in Spark accommodation are required to pay a 50€ deposit on arrival which will be returned to the student on departure, providing there is no damage to the accommodation and the keys are returned before leaving.  If students loose their keys, this amount to replace the keys would be taken from the deposit.
• Students will be fully responsible for any damage in any accommodation or building or damage to objects/machines which resulted from misuse or negligence.  If the damage amounted to more than 50€, the student would be charged for the amount above that of their 50€ deposit.  Students will not be held responsible for any breakages in the accommodation that result from general wear and tear but to ensure we are aware of what happened students must inform us of any breakage as soon as you can.
  • Students must clean up communal areas immediately after use.  This means if they cook dinner in Sparkville or in a flat that you must wash up afterwards.
  • Sparkville is a residence not a hotel or hostel, meaning students supply their own toiletries, towels etc… and are also responsible in their own room for their own cleaning and laundry (a communal coin operated washing machine is available).  The same applies to flat and homestay accommodation.  Bed linen is provided by Spark or our homestay families.  Students who stay for more than a week, will be required to pass over their dirty sheets and will receive a new set once a week at the weekend.
  • To ensure all students get the sleep they wish for, students are asked to be quiet during the usage of communal areas, in high season, July to October, this is  from 23.30 or 00.00 onwards and in low season 23.00 onwards.
  • Sparkville  has its own rooftop that can be used by students throughout the day and evening.  Usage after 00.00 must be done quietly, no night parties allowed as we desire to be respectful of our neighbours!
  • Spark provides free wifi connection in the Sparkville residence (we dont gurantee this in flats nor homestay), available via wifi.  Although it is un-usual that there are cuts in the service, Spark is not responsible for any interruptions as ultimately it is a free service.
  • Guests of students are permitted in the Sparkville residence during normal hours although they must be with the Spark student at all times and are not permitted in the building without a student.  Guests must also adhere to all normal residence rules outlined above.  Guests are not permitted to stay the night in a student’s room, unless prior agreement has been made with Spark directly.  The guest would be charged the standard daily rate for staying in a room if Spark had agreed this were possible.
  • Spark is not responsible for any student property that is lost or misplaced in the sparkville residence or in the classes.  Also students should bear in mind our spark insurance does not cover student property.  All spark rooms have their own key and we suggest you lock that when not in the room.
  • Accommodation Rules: Students must be aware that in all Spark accommodation (be it sharing with a family, in our residence or in a shared flat), many parts of the facilities are shared and because of this they must be respectful to other students or the host family at all times.  Students will be asked to bear in mind all common sense things they would do in their own home and apply them to their stay with us and especially bear in mind the following.

Cultural Events Programme Terms and Conditions:

• The number of cultural events depends on the time of year and number of students and the programme.
• A minimum of 1 Spark staff member will always be present during each cultural event.  For social reasons students are not grouped by level during cultural events.
• According to the events programme, certain events will be completely run in Spanish although other events will deliberately be run openly for students to communicate in the language of their choice.  This is because the cultural events programme is not just to help improve students’ Spanish level but is also more so to raise awareness of the Spanish culture and encourage positive student bonding so your spark experience is a great one.
• Some events will have no cost and others will have cost covering things like: food drinks, entrance tickets, transport etc which will be the responsibility of the student to pay.  Students would be forewarned of any known expense that a cultural activity involves and attendance would be entirely optional.
• Attendance to cultural events is entirely optional.  Students should feel free to join in the events they wish.  For some events, prior confirmation will of course be required due to a need to book up ahead of time. Also some events done in Spark van will have a foro limit with places being given on a first to confirm basis.
• On arrival, students will be given the cultural events programme for that coming week and also it will be displayed in the Spark communal areas at all times.

Activities Terms and Conditions:

• Most activities are run by a third party supplier of Spark and not by Spark itself.
• The running of many activities are subject to suitable weather conditions and student numbers (the number needed varies per activity).  In the case of cancellation due to insufficient student numbers signed up to the activity, students will be given a full refund for the activity price (not for any small admin. commission/fee that banks may have charged for payment).  In the case of weather conditions, a full refund would be given for any course that was cancelled before the event took place although if the activity started and then was cancelled during the activity a refund would not be possible as the supplier would provide alternative lot of activities.
• Transport to the activities will only be provided by Spark if the activity is a group activity and part of the cultural event programme.  If the activity is not a part of the cultural event programme then students have to make their own way to the activity.  Spark of course would explain to the student how to get to the activity by public transport or by taxi.  For group activities, the number of students that fit in the van, will limit the numbers of students who could do the activity.

Conditions for coming with an animal

• Unfortunately to the communal set up of our residence it is not possible to come with animal and stay in the residence, however it would be in other accommodation.

Pick Up and Drop Offs Terms and Conditions:

• Transfers are subject to conditions of each programme so should be checked on the programme pages. Normally adult programmes do not have transfers but teen programmes do. Any transfer must be pre-arranged and be on arrival sunday and departure saturday.
• Group arrivals can always request a quote for private transfers from any nearby airport.
• Some waiting time could be possible if a mutiple pick up and other guests still to arrive.

General Terms and Conditions

• As stated above although we have our http://www.sparkspanish.com web in multiple languages, we can ultimately only guarantee the information on our website is 100% updated in English so if any clash in interpretation ever exists the terms and conditions are based on the information provided in English on our website.
• Although it is an extremely unlikely occurrence, students must be aware that any change of law in Spain or policy change by a third party providing us with a service could affect some terms and conditions in this document.  In this case we would inform the student immediately and if the change were significant, we would give the student the possibility of receiving a full refund from us for the programme part affected.  As stated this is not a likely occurrence.
• Any refunds given will never include the refunding of any bank costs the student may have accrued.
• Students must bear in mind there are of course additional “common sense” terms and conditions affecting all areas above, especially things like accommodation and class, that students are expected to adhere to as they would in any environment.
• With our adult programmes, Spark is not responsible for the supervision nor the conduct of students in their free time, nor are we legally responsible to provide any support (legal or medical) with any non Spark programme matter, although of course we will do our best to support our students with whatever we can help them with but ultimately we are not responsible. nor required to do so.
• Spark is not responsible for providing any medical insurance for the students.  This is entirely the student’s own responsibility.  EU students should be covered by inter-community agreements but students should check this in their home countries and bring relevant documents with them.  We advise non EU students to take out their own medical insurance before coming to Spain and in some countries cases this may be a requirement for getting a visa.
• Spark is not responsible for organizing visas for students getting into the country which is their own responsibility.  Spark will supply on request any evidence needed that the student is studying and staying with us at Spark.
• EU students do not require a visa to enter Spain and have complete freedom of movement and length of stay. Also many other countries do not either but please check this with your relevant authorities.
• Countries which are part of the Schengan agreement either do not require a visa or have an easy to get visa.  The schengan agreement normally requires students to already have a returnee flight booked before entering into Spain but please check this specifics with your own embassy.
• In general Spain has very good agreements with most countries and getting a visa is quite straight forward.  More info on visas is available here.
• Students have the responsibility to:
• To make payments within the terms and conditions stated or otherwise agreed.
• Pass on to Spark any required document for running our programmes or services.  This could include Spanish level test, copies of passports or visas in some nationalities case.
• To obey the laws and customs of Spain and adhere and adapt to these accordingly.
• Inform Spark of any medical issue that we may need to be aware of in order to run our programmes safely.

Data Protection Information

• Please note the information provided below is a summary of full data protection information provided in Spanish on our aviso legal page.
• Coinciding with the L.O. 15/1999 de Data Protection for individuals, Spark Languages S.L. reminds the user that personal data will be stored in Spark database and third party storage (mailchimp/formstack/freshbooks/zendesk), along the preferences selected at info request, newsletter petition or enrollment stage. The individual authorizes Spark to contact them with the requested information solicited in contact forms or via other means and unless otherwise stated, or selected, to contact them about future offers and information on our courses via email, our newsletter or any other way. Following the “Ley Orgánica 15/1999” the individual can choose to be removed from our mailing lists at any time through accessing their account with mailchimp or via contacting us directly at Spark Languages S.L and in full appliance with GDPR  Spark has double opt and correct data storage for all our services.  All our fore-mentioned third party services are fully compliant in all areas of GDPR and data protections.

Our full Privacy Policy is available at this link.

Aviso Legal

Photographic and Video Material

• The student accepts that Spark has a right to use in their marketing material any photographs or videos taken of them during their stay with us.  We also have the right to use any photographic material that a student uploads to our own web or social networks.
• Spark also reserves right to grant this permission to partner companies who promote our programmes.  Spark will always ensure this material is used responsibly.

To Jump to specific conditions click on links provided: * Class * Accommodation * Cultural Events *Payment *Cancellation *General *Data Protection Information