I've seen that quite a lot of people come to Madrid to study Spanish. They all seem to go to privat schools forgetting that there are other choices.

The cheapest one of all is the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas . Not only you get an intensive course (2 hours/day) for about 20 euros/month but the most important thing of all: you get a certificate from an official school accredited by the Spanish government.

Unfortunately, the demand is so high that getting into their courses is a matter of luck. Cursos de español para extranjeros

Check out also the following course from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Facultades de Filología, Geografía e Historia y Filosofía

Spanish Courses for foreigners 2002/03

• Spanish course Winter 2003 (January, 9 - March 26)
• Spanish course Spring 2003 (April, 1 - June 20)
• Intensive Spanish course Sping 2003 (April 1 - May 13)
• Summer courses 2003 (July 2nd - 30th)

Información e inscripción:
Secretaría de los cursos para extranjeros
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Edificio A.
Universidad Complutense.
Ciudad Universitaria - 28040 Madrid (España)
Tel: 34 91 394 53 25 Fax: 34 91 394 53 36
Web: http://www.ucm.es/info/cextran
E-mail: cursosex@filol.ucm.es