Malta, Spain and Italy: the Mediterranean is where Latin Americans get in easily

While Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom were rewriting visa rules, the Mediterranean quietly had its best year in a long time. Fedele, the association of Spanish language schools in Spain, reported a record 2025 with student weeks up 35 per cent. The Italian schools grouped in ASILS grew again. Malta's English schools taught fewer students in 2025 but more weeks per student, and the trade press noted that Latin American markets "remained strong" there. German agents called it a strong year for Malta and for juniors.

For a student from Latin America, the reason is structural, and it is worth understanding.

Ninety days, no visa

Citizens of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile enter the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. A language course of up to twelve weeks in Malta, Spain, Italy, France or Germany therefore needs no visa at all: a passport, a return ticket, proof of funds and accommodation, and the school's enrolment letter for the border. The European travel authorisation (ETIAS), a small online fee, is expected to start in late 2026 or 2027 and does not change the principle.

Courses longer than 90 days need a national long-stay visa from the country in question, applied for before you leave home in most cases. Malta is the exception that lets visa-exempt nationals apply on the island before the 90 days end, then collect a residence permit.

Malta: English, in the sun, in Europe

Malta is the only Mediterranean destination for English, and it has built an industry around it: dozens of schools licensed by the ELT Council, English as an official language, and a price level below London or Dublin. Students on courses over 90 days at licensed schools may work up to 20 hours a week after their first three months, through a permit from the employment agency. Summer is crowded and pricier; spring and autumn are the smart seasons. The island is small enough that the school you choose matters more than the town.

When EC English closed in September 2026, thirteen member schools of the Maltese federation offered its students four weeks of free lessons within days. There is no statutory fund in Malta, so choose a licensed, federation member school.

Spain: the other language Latin Americans already speak

It sounds odd to study Spanish abroad when you speak it, and for Portuguese speakers it is usually the second language chosen after English. For Spanish speakers, Spain's schools sell something else: Business Spanish, exam preparation (DELE, SIELE), teacher training, and combined programmes such as Spanish plus cooking or Spanish plus surfing. Record demand in 2025 came with new formats: a summer language camp in Málaga for both Spanish and English opened in 2026.

Spain's schools are grouped in Fedele with a quality mark from the Instituto Cervantes; look for both.

Italy: the fastest riser

Italian schools have grown two years running, helped by cities that cost a fraction of London and a lifestyle that sells itself. In 2026 a summer language bus service began carrying students between schools and coastal towns, a small sign of a sector that is organising for international students. ASILS membership is the accreditation to look for. Italian is also the classic "second language after English" for students who want a European year: three months of English in Malta and three months of Italian in Florence fit inside two Schengen windows.

The trade-offs, honestly

• Work rights are limited or absent on short stays; these are destinations for learning and living, not for earning.
• Summer is the whole world's high season in the Mediterranean; book early or come in April, May, September or October.
• Learner protection is stronger in Malta (licensing, federation) than in Spain or Italy (association membership without a statutory fund), so pay in stages where the school allows it.

For anyone who has watched the visa news from the big English-speaking countries with a sinking feeling, the Mediterranean is the reminder that the door to Europe is open, and that the schools behind it had a very good year.

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