Escuela Oficial de Idiomas

The EOIs are centers that are both funded and managed by the regional education authorities of the various Autonomous communities of Spain, and they are framed within the non-university special regime, which facilitates subsidized or grant-assisted access and support to suitable candidates.

The first school opened in Madrid in 1911 under the name Escuela Central de Idiomas, which from the outset included English, French, and German in its curriculum.

[3] The then-Ministry of Public Instruction paid the Countess six thousand pesetas for rent, which corresponds to approximately 20,000 Euros in early 21st century spending power.

During the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera the school was attached to the Complutense University of Madrid, and during the civil war, classes were suspended.

The Russian teacher at that time recounted that during the first years, there would usually be a secret policeman present in her classes, who left about a month after starting the course.

[10] These schools were all called Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas, marking the birth date of the nation-wide EOI network.

In 1982, four more Schools were created in Burgos, Ciudad Real, Murcia and Salamanca, bringing the total number of establishments up to twelve.

Following the restoration of democracy in 1978, the direction of the individual "EOIs" was transferred to the various departments of education of their respective autonomous communities,[11] which expanded and developed the service according to their different regional needs and policies, with only a loose national framework in place.

The number of schools in each community as of 2020 is as follows: The prerequisite to enter an EOI is to have completed the first of the two cycles of secondary education in Spain or the equivalent abroad.