Intermediate Spanish readings
Full-length stories and plays with more natural pacing and dialogue.
Short stories
90 original stories written for this level, each with a comprehension check.
El sendero perdido
Four friends hiking in a Chilean national park wander off the marked trail and must work together to find their way back before dark.
El primer concierto de Rodrigo
A nervous amateur guitarist gets his first chance to perform live at a small café and has to overcome his stage fright.
Los regalos misteriosos
A curious teenager investigates who has been secretly leaving small gifts on neighbors' doorsteps in her small town.
El concurso de cocina
A teenage cooking enthusiast enters a local competition and must find his own voice instead of copying his idol.
La estudiante de intercambio
A Japanese exchange student in Argentina struggles to adjust to her host family's noisy, affectionate household.
El partido solidario
Two rival youth soccer teams must combine forces for a single charity match, testing old grudges and new friendships.
El negocio de paseos
A teenager starts a neighborhood dog-walking business to save money for a bike, but quickly learns it's harder than it looks.
El primer campamento sin nada moderno
A family's first camping trip without phones or modern comforts starts as a disaster but becomes an unexpectedly meaningful bonding experience.
El examen final
A stressed-out student learns healthier ways to cope with exam anxiety before her biology final with the help of a classmate.
La escritora persistente
A teenage writer faces repeated rejection from a literary magazine and must decide whether to give up or keep trying.
El refugio de animales
A shy teenager volunteers at an animal shelter and forms an unexpected bond with an anxious dog that no one wants to adopt.
La avería en la carretera
Two strangers whose cars break down on the same remote highway end up helping each other and forming an unlikely friendship.
Las clases de conducir
A teenager learning to drive must navigate her nervous father's constant backseat instructions during their practice sessions.
El teatro comunitario
A community theater group scrambles to save their play after the lead actor drops out just days before opening night.
La recuperación de Marta
A young swimmer recovering from a shoulder injury must decide whether to rush back for a big competition or accept a slower path.
El trabajo en equipo
A school group project nearly falls apart due to unequal effort, until the students find a fairer way to collaborate.
La reunión familiar
A family reunites after many years apart, and old tensions between two brothers threaten to resurface before the gathering is over.
El abuelo y el teléfono
A teenager patiently teaches her tech-resistant grandfather how to use a smartphone so he can video call his grandchildren abroad.
El periódico escolar
A student journalist investigates a rumor spreading through school and discovers the harmless truth behind it for the newspaper's biggest story yet.
El jardín comunitario
Neighbors unite to save a beloved community garden from being paved over for a parking lot, organizing to make their case to the city.
El primer día en la oficina
A young designer's nerve-wracking first day at a new job teaches her that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.
La factura que nunca llega
A freelance web developer must find the courage to confront a client who keeps delaying payment for months.
El error del becario
An intern must decide whether to hide a costly mistake or admit it to his boss right away.
El cliente de la mesa siete
A waitress discovers the painful reason behind a rude customer's behavior, and an unlikely friendship begins.
La competencia por el ascenso
Two close coworkers apply for the same promotion, and their friendship is tested before a surprising resolution.
El ruido del piso de arriba
A noise conflict between neighbors turns into an unexpected friendship after the building agrees on shared rules.
La herencia de la panadería
Two siblings clash over what to do with their late father's bakery, until an old letter changes everything.
La vecina nueva
An immigrant woman's cooking breaks the ice with a distant elderly neighbor, sparking an unexpected friendship.
El aviso de desalojo
When their building's owner decides to sell, a group of tenants must organize together to protect their rights.
El grupo de WhatsApp del edificio
A small parking complaint explodes into a heated group chat war, until the neighbors decide to talk face to face instead.
Las fotos perfectas
An exhausted young influencer decides to post something real for the first time, and discovers she isn't alone in her struggle.
Las llamadas de los domingos
A mother working abroad and her teenage daughter must relearn how to truly connect during their weekly video calls.
Un mensaje de la aplicación
After many disappointing matches, a man finally connects with someone whose honesty matches her online profile.
La oficina vacía
After years working from home, an employee must decide how he really feels about returning to the office.
Treinta días sin notificaciones
A woman addicted to checking her phone tries a month-long digital detox and discovers what she had been missing.
El correo sospechoso
A man narrowly avoids a bank phishing scam and later helps his mother recognize a similar trick.
Los árboles de la plaza
When the city plans to cut down a neighborhood's old trees for a parking lot, a young woman organizes her neighbors to find a compromise.
El supermercado sin plástico
A shop owner's dream of a plastic-free grocery store slowly wins over a skeptical neighborhood, one customer at a time.
La caja de compost
A school project about food waste changes one family's habits, starting with a skeptical father and a determined son.
La energía del futuro
A newly graduated engineer must win over a skeptical veteran technician while bringing solar power to a rural school.
La mochila que pesaba menos
A woman walking the Camino de Santiago alone learns that carrying less might mean living better.
El maratón de los cuarenta
A man turning forty decides to run his first marathon to prove to himself that midlife can be a beginning, not an end.
Las manos en el barro
A stressed office worker discovers an unexpected passion for pottery that changes how she spends her evenings.
La cena de los martes
A lonely retiree begins volunteering at a soup kitchen and forms an unlikely friendship with a young man who eats there.
El autobús equivocado
A cautious traveler gets on the wrong bus in a foreign country and discovers an adventure she never planned.
Aprender a flotar
A woman in her thirties finally confronts a childhood fear of water by taking swimming lessons.
La banda de garaje
Four strangers who answer the same online ad form a band and discover that making music together means more than they expected.
Los libros para Rosa
A university student volunteers to teach an elderly woman to read, and learns as much from her as she teaches.
La cumbre del Teide
A group of friends attempts to reach the summit of Mount Teide, and when one of them gets altitude sickness, the group must decide whether to turn back.
El silencio del retiro
An overworked lawyer attends a weekend silent retreat and discovers how uncomfortable — and necessary — silence can be.
El lienzo en blanco
A widower picks up a paintbrush for the first time in decades and finds an unexpected way to process his grief.
La playa después de la tormenta
After a storm fills the coastline with trash, a group of strangers organizes a beach cleanup that becomes something bigger.
Quince días en Kioto
A shy university graduate travels alone to Japan for two weeks and slowly learns to step outside her comfort zone.
El buceo en la isla
A man terrified of deep water forces himself to get a scuba diving certification during a holiday with friends, and finally moves past his fear.
La bicicleta de mi padre
A young man rides his late father's old bicycle across the country, retracing a journey his father once told him about.
El primer paso de salsa
A painfully shy accountant signs up for salsa classes to overcome his social anxiety and ends up finding much more than dance skills.
La casa que construimos
A group of volunteers spends two weeks building a house for a family in need and forms bonds that outlast the project.
El aula bajo el puente
A retired teacher starts an informal Spanish class for migrant children living near her city and rediscovers her purpose.
El fotógrafo accidental
A delivery driver who takes photos as a hobby is stunned when one of his casual shots ends up in a real gallery exhibition.
El río que nos enseñó
A group of coworkers who barely know each other go on a whitewater rafting trip that forces them to trust one another.
El piso compartido
Four very different roommates clash over chores and noise until a broken boiler forces them to cooperate.
La entrevista de trabajo
A young graduate arrives late and soaked to the most important interview of her life, and honesty turns out to be her best strategy.
Las tortugas de la playa
A bored teenager is sent to volunteer on a sea turtle project in Costa Rica and spends one night that changes her plans for the future.
El Camino de Santiago
A recently retired man walks the Camino de Santiago alone and discovers that the people he meets matter more than reaching the cathedral.
La abuela se muda
A family struggles with the decision to move a grandmother into a care home, and a teenager helps her keep her independence in a new way.
El podcast del instituto
Three students start a podcast about their neighborhood and uncover a forgotten story that brings the community together.
La primera cita
Two people who met on an app plan a perfect first date, and everything goes wrong in the best possible way.
Un año en Bolonia
A shy engineering student goes to Italy on an Erasmus exchange and slowly learns to step out of her comfort zone.
Aprender a cocinar a los treinta
A man who has always lived on takeout decides to learn to cook after a health scare, with help from an unexpected teacher.
El vuelo cancelado
Stranded at an airport overnight, four strangers decide to rent a car together and drive across the country.
La tienda de discos
A teenager takes a part-time job in an old record store that is about to close and helps its owner find a way to save it.
El perro de acogida
A busy young couple agrees to foster a frightened shelter dog for two weeks, and the dog ends up changing their lives.
El café de las reparaciones
A retired electrician starts fixing neighbors' broken appliances for free and creates an unexpected meeting place.
El hermano que volvió
After ten years working in Australia, a man returns to his hometown and struggles to fit into a family that learned to live without him.
El intercambio de idiomas
A Spanish student and a Japanese engineer meet for weekly language exchanges and learn far more than vocabulary.
El incendio
When a forest fire threatens a small mountain village, an old man refuses to leave his home until a neighbor helps him save what matters most.
Un mes sin coche
A family accepts a city challenge to live without their car for a month and discovers a slower, closer way of life.
La boda de mi hermana
On her sister's wedding day, a bridesmaid has to solve one disaster after another and learns what really makes a celebration.
El sueño del food truck
A laid-off cook and his daughter risk their savings on a food truck, and their first summer is a lesson in failure and persistence.
La jubilación del conserje
When the beloved school janitor retires after thirty-five years, former students secretly organize a farewell he'll never forget.
El club de lectura de la prisión
A retired literature teacher starts a reading club in a prison and is surprised by what the inmates teach her.
El discurso
A student terrified of public speaking is chosen to give the graduation speech and has to find her own way through the fear.
El árbol genealógico
A school project on family history leads a boy to discover a great-grandfather nobody in the family ever talked about.
Una noche en urgencias
A young nurse on her first night shift in the emergency room faces chaos, fear and a patient who helps her find her calm.
El campeonato de baristas
A young café worker from a small town enters a national barista competition with a coffee inspired by her grandmother.
La jefa más joven
An experienced employee resents being passed over for a promotion in favor of a woman half his age, until a crisis shows him her strengths.
El mercado de trueque
Two neighbors start a monthly market where nothing is bought or sold, and it grows into something bigger than either imagined.
La oposición a bombera
A young woman trains for years to pass the notoriously hard firefighter exam, facing doubts from others and from herself.
El coro del barrio
A music teacher forms a choir of neighbors who can't sing, and their first concert becomes an unforgettable moment for the whole community.
Veinte años después
At her twenty-year high school reunion, a woman discovers that the classmate she thought had forgotten her remembers a kindness she'd forgotten herself.
Nonfiction
8 original articles: explainers, news-style pieces, columns and workplace texts, each with a comprehension check.
¿Por qué los españoles cenan tan tarde?
Dinner at ten, prime-time TV at half past ten: the history of Spain's unusual daily timetable, and the debate about changing it.
Explainer
El pueblo que pagó el internet para que volvieran los jóvenes
A report from a small village that installed fast broadband and offered cheap houses to remote workers. Two years later, has it worked?
News
El Día de Muertos: una fiesta para recordar
Altars, marigolds and sugar skulls: what Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrates and where its traditions come from.
Culture
Machu Picchu, la ciudad escondida de los incas
How a fifteenth-century Inca estate high in the Andes survived the Spanish conquest and became one of the most visited places in South America.
History
El pulpo, una inteligencia muy diferente
Three hearts, blue blood and a brain spread through its arms: why scientists find octopuses so fascinating.
Science
Cómo escribir un correo profesional en español
Greetings, sign-offs and the tone that works in a work email in Spanish, with the most common mistakes English speakers make.
Workplace
Ir al médico en España: guía rápida
The health card, your family doctor, the health centre and A&E: how the Spanish public health system works for a newcomer.
Practical guide
En defensa del aburrimiento
An opinion column: a journalist argues that we have lost the habit of being bored, and that our ideas are paying the price.
Opinion column
Books
15 books to buy and read at your own pace.
Short Stories in Spanish for Intermediate Learners
Olly Richards
The intermediate follow-up to the beginner collection -- longer stories, more natural dialogue, still with built-in vocabulary support.
Bodas de sangre
Federico García Lorca
A short, intense stage play written mostly in dialogue -- a good format for this level, since spoken Spanish is generally easier to follow than dense narrative prose.
Sin noticias de Gurb
Eduardo Mendoza
An alien crash-lands in Barcelona and, disguised as a human, keeps a diary of everything that baffles him about daily Spanish life. Short entries and simple, funny observations make it an easy, laugh-out-loud entry point.
Cuentos de la selva
Horacio Quiroga
A set of short animal fables set in the Argentine jungle, written in clear, direct prose. Each story is self-contained, so it's easy to read one sitting at a time without losing the thread.
El camino
Miguel Delibes
A boy spends his last night in his rural village before leaving for the city, remembering the small adventures of his childhood. The vocabulary is concrete and everyday, rooted in village life rather than abstract ideas.
Caperucita en Manhattan
Carmen Martín Gaite
A modern, New York-set retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, following a girl who sets off alone to deliver a cake to her grandmother. Playful and clearly written, with a fairy-tale structure that keeps the plot easy to follow.
El alquimista
Paulo Coelho
A young shepherd travels from Spain to Egypt chasing a recurring dream about treasure. The Spanish is deliberately simple and repetitive, which is part of why it's so often handed to intermediate learners.
La chica invisible
Blue Jeans
A contemporary YA novel about a teenage girl navigating friendship, first love, and feeling unseen at school. Short chapters and casual, modern dialogue make it very approachable.
El nido de los sueños
Rosa Montero
A gentle youth novel about a girl and the imaginative world she builds around her. Written with clean, simple description, it's aimed at younger readers but works well as low-pressure reading practice.
La guerra de mi abuelo
Leonardo Cervera
A grandson pieces together his grandfather's experience of the Spanish Civil War through the stories he's told. Frequently cited as one of the easiest full-length novels available in Spanish for learners.
El viejo y el mar
Ernest Hemingway
An old Cuban fisherman's days-long struggle with a giant marlin, told in short, plain sentences. Hemingway's spare style translates into equally spare Spanish, which is what makes it such a popular choice for this level.
¿Me voy o me quedo?
Juan Fernández
A story written specifically for Intermediate learners about a young Englishman trying to decide whether to stay in Spain, working through the culture shock and everyday decisions that come with it.
El sabueso de los Baskerville
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes investigates a supposed curse haunting a family on the English moors. The mystery-plot structure carries you forward even when a sentence or two isn't fully clear.
Nada
Carmen Laforet
A young woman moves in with strange relatives in Barcelona just after the Spanish Civil War, trying to make sense of a household full of tension. Its short, diary-like chapters and everyday domestic scenes keep it grounded and readable.
Herencia maldita
Ángeles Goyanes
A suspense novel about a mysterious inheritance tangled up with Buddhism and reincarnation. Plot-driven and written in accessible, contemporary Spanish.
Free Spanish short stories for intermediate learners
Intermediate stories read like real short fiction: characters with motives, plots with tension, and natural dialogue. You'll meet the present subjunctive, the future and conditional, and a much wider vocabulary.
Settings range across the Spanish-speaking world, from a national park in Chile to Madrid and Bogotá, so you pick up regional vocabulary and culture along the way.
Each story is free and ends with comprehension questions in English. Harder words are glossed right in the text so you can keep reading instead of reaching for a dictionary.
Grammar to know at this level
- The Spanish Subjunctive: When to Use It
- The Spanish Present Perfect: He Hablado
- The Spanish Pluperfect: Había Hablado
- The Spanish Conditional: Would
- Subjunctive After Wishes, Emotions and Doubt
- Subjunctive After Impersonal Expressions and Ojalá
- Vosotros and Usted Commands in Spanish
- Spanish Relative Pronouns: Que, Quien, El Que, Lo Que
- Passive Se, Impersonal Se and the Passive Voice
- Spanish Verbs With Prepositions
- Spanish Verb Periphrases: Ir a, Acabar de, Volver a, Llevar + Gerund
What does Intermediate mean here?
It's the first level where you can handle most everyday situations and follow the main points of clear, standard Spanish.
Should I read Intermediate stories if I'm still unsure about the subjunctive?
Yes. Seeing it in context is one of the best ways to get used to it, and the glosses explain tricky forms.