In this episode of the When in Spain podcast I take a weekend trip two hours south of Madrid to the town of Valdepeñas with three friends, one of whom spent a year living the Spanish small town life in deep Castilla la Mancha before moving to the Spanish capital.

With the help of Matt Jennings, friend and fellow Hispanophile – who incidentally wrote his masters thesis on Miguel de Cervantes´ most famous work The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha – we talk about what Valedepeñas and the wider autonomous community of Castilla la Mancha is famous for and what it has to offer. Think wine, windmills and of course Don Quixote. Also find out why Valdepeñas is classed as a heroic city or Ciudad Heroica. 

Chris and Adam also join us as we sup beer and eat tapas in the centre of Valdepeñas, to talk about the differences between small town life versus big city living in Spain. We look at integrating with the locals, language learning and adapting to life in Spain.