Do I Want to Study in a Big or a Small City?

I am in touch with many students from many different countries, with wildly different backgrounds, experiences, exposure to other countries, goals, inclinations, orientations... I could go on... The one thing that they have in common is that they want to come study in Spain. Many students immediately tell me that their first choice is either Barcelona or Madrid. For some students, I think that these options are fine, but I dont believe that these cities reflect by any stretch of the imagination all that Spain has to offer. Spain is an extremely diverse country. There are four official languages, several other local dialects, drastically different historical influences, migration and immigration trends, social issues, political issues (galore), not to mention topographical and economic differences that make every region, and even each city a world to discover. Students want to study in the big cities, perhaps because they think that this is where the cultural centers are, where they will be the most exposed to the new and different, where they will have more opportunites, but I think that in some ways this is an error. If you want to sink your heels down into a place, get to know some of the local citizens, step off the beaten path, learn the language, and discover how the language is tied to the people, you may find that life in a smaller city allows you the luxury to examine all of those things through a much more powerful lense.