Emigrants to Spain have been advised to learn Spanish as best they can in order to boost their career prospects over the long term.

Analysis from Emigrate.co.uk suggests that there is a "lack of willingness" to adopt English as the lingua franca of the Spanish workplace, potentially making it difficult for non-fluent expats to get ahead.

The report added that relatively few Spanish business people are fluent in English and that small business owners are less likely to know the language.

"Having a reasonable working knowledge of the Spanish language will make day-to-day interactions far easier, particularly in the subject of illness, accidents or medical insurance," Emigrate.co.uk stated.

"The message then is simple; to make the most of your time overseas it would be wise to undertake some form of research or study into the local culture and language."

Making international money transfers could also be a simpler process for emigrants who speak good Spanish.

Figures cited by Emigrate.co.uk suggest that 62 per cent of UK travellers do not learn the language of their destination country.

Spanish and English are the world's second and third most widely spoken languages, counting 329 million and 328 million native speakers respectively, according to Ethnologue estimates.

Posted by Richard Planner