Salamanca Warnings and Dangers

I personally think that Salamanca is a very safe city. My hostfamily hoped that I wouldn't walk alone while it's dark out, but I still did it every night during 2 weeks. There was absolutely no problems. Just keep your head with you, and there is nothing to worry, or be afraid of. Such a wonderful city!

Immediately after taking my placement test (which no one looked at in determining where to place me), I was put in an intermediate class of 8 people. Some people in the class didn't know how to conjugate even the most basic verbs, and others had already mastered the subjunctive. I wasn't learning anything, because the material was too easy or too advanced, so I decided to swtch to Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (which I highly recommend to anyone! It has an incredible language program, and great teachers!). I had only paid my deposit to Delibes, so after 2 days, I went to the front desk to let them know that I was not going to continue taking lclasses there. The deposit more than covered the cost of tuition for a full week, so it should have been very easy to leave the school. Instead, it was very traumatic and difficult. The director of the school threatened me. He told me he would call the police and they would arrest me and ban me from the EU indefinitely if I didn't pay him for the full 4 months of classes I had intended to take. He said I had signed a contract that obligated my payment by reserving my place and he told me if I didn't pay, the police would find me wherever I was an would throw me in jail. I couldn't believe that what he was saying was true, but I was still very terrified and upset by these threats. i was a young girl, all alone in a foreign country where i was barely able to communicate in spanish. I didn't want any trouble. If I really owed him the money, I would of course pay, but I did not want to waste my money on those horrible classes if I didn't have to. I decided to go to the police to find out. While in the waiting room, I met a a very nice bi-lingual woman who helped me explain what had happened to the police since I didn't know enough spanish. The police were horrified. They couldn't believe the direcor was trying to con me out of my money like that, and were outraged that he was taking advantage of people like that. They were so appalled, they actually had me file a formal legal complaint against him. I hope that no one else ever has an experience like this with him or with that school. If you are considering studying there, dont!!! check out the La Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca instead, where you will not only learn spanish, but you'll really enjoy yourself too.

Its a simple thing.. but so easy to forget when your on a night out..
i had one of the most scary experiences of my life in salamanca when i walked home on zamora one night in the middle of the night
i was stalked by a car with no headlights with the guy inside leering at me to come for a ride..and i have never run so fast in my life.. i was so thankful to have gotten away..
so please always take a taxi, they never cost more than 2 or 3 euros...
and theres no price you can put on your safety!..

I was only in Salamanca for a couple days, but the only time I glimpsed the sun was as my bus was pulling out of town. It never really rained too hard, but there was a steady drizzle for much of the time I was here, so it's always a good idea to be prepared with an umbrella or sufficient rain gear.

You'll also do quite a bit of walking in Salamanca, so bring comfortable shoes.

Don't step on the grass there! There's even a sign there that tells you that. I don't know why they make such a huge deal about it (after all, it's just grass, for frick's sake!), but if they catch you, they'll tell you off over it.

As in most European cities, be careful of thieves and pickpockets. There aren't that many in Salamanca (at least I didn't encounter any), but you can't be too careful. Don't carry your passport or large amounts of money with you when you go out. Also, don't wear expensive jewelry.

Sometimes, you'll see people begging for money near the Plaza Mayor or the Cathedral. If you don't want to give them money, ignore them and they'll usually leave you alone.

Also, sometimes when you're at an outdoor cafe, a person might come up and put a card on your table that describes how poor they are (usually along the lines of "We're an immigrant family, I'm unemployed, help me feed my children", etc), as a way to make you pity them and give them money. I usually give them a coin or two, and they leave me alone. But do remember that sometimes, these people do lie and they're not always as poor as they look...

It can get hot in the summer, but it's a dry heat so it doesn't get very humid unless it rains (and it doesn't rain often in summer). But since the weather can get very well go above 30 or even 40 at times, you still have to remember to drink lots of water. Wear comfortable clothes appropriate for the summer. Bring sunscreen too and wear it when you can if you burn easily. If you don't have sunscreen, walk in the shade as much as possible. If you burn, put cold water and/or aloe vera on the burn to soothe it.

If you're a girl, you'll probably get hit on at the discos. It can be fun, but sometimes it gets sleazy. My professor told us that telling the guy you have a boyfriend usually works, because it means that you're the property of another guy, but I tried that and it didn't work. A guy in a disco kept asking me for a kiss and I always refused. Then, he forced me to kiss him, and then took me outside and tried to force me to come to a hotel with him. I was able to break from his grip and run away, but be careful about things like that. You never know what might happen.

Once, as I was walking away from the Palacio de Congresos, a car full of guys drove by, and started yelling things like "Levante la falda!" (lift your skirt up). Other guys I encountered made other sleazy comments.

Another time, a group of guys kept trying to feel me up. Once, I literally had to peel a guy's hand off my chest (yuck!). In another bar, a middle-aged bartender made a comment about my chest, and a guy in that bar was always trying to touch my chest and look up my skirt. He also kept slapping his hand down on my leg. In another situation, a guy and I were attracted to each other, so we started kissing, and left the disco together. I just wanted to kiss, but he tried to get me to do inappropriate things, and even though he didn't rape me or anything like that, he did force me to let him do something that I kept saying "no" to. He held my wrists down to the ground so there wasn't much I could do to fight him off. Be very careful of guys in discos, most of them are just looking for sexual things. "Their brains are in their pants", as my mother once wrote me in an e-mail after I had told her about these guys. I was lucky that the guy didn't force me into a worse situation. Even if you're attracted to the guy, be aware that he might end up trying to force you into bad situations.