Away With Words by Sophie Cameron

Gala and her dad, Jordi, have just moved from home in Cataluña to a town in Scotland, to live with Jordi’s boyfriend Ryan. Gala doesn’t speak much English, and feels lost, lonely and unable to be her usual funny self. Until she befriends Natalie, a girl with selective mutism.

Themes: friendship, language, words, mutism, LGBTQ+

The Queen’s Vow by C .W. Gortner

Isabella was the notorious warrior-queen who, along with her husband Ferdinand, transformed Spain forever. Popular belief has her as a religious fanatic persuaded into the horrific excesses of the Inquisition by her confessor, Torquemada, but this book fills in her early life.

Themes: Spain, historical, war, monarchy

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

When Dah and Sera stumble across the Infinity Ring, they learn that history has gone disastrously off course and it’s down to them to fix it... and save Dak’s missing parents while they’re at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny.

Themes: fantasy, historical, Spain, friendship, peril

When Dah and Sera stumble across the Infinity Ring, they learn that history has gone disastrously off course and it’s down to them to fix it... and save Dak’s missing parents while they’re at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny.

Themes: fantasy, historical, Spain, friendship, peril

Itchcraft by Simon Mayo

Itchingham Lofte, teenage element hunter and unlikely hero, has had anough excitement to last him a lifetime. But when a school trip to Spain ends in exploding currency and rioting locals, he knows that he has to continue to look for answers to save the lives of everyone around him.

Themes: adventure, mystery, peril, school, friendship

Cruel Summer by Juno Dawson

Ryan is looking forward to spending the summer with his old school friends at Katie's luxurious Spanish villa. He hasn't seen them all since their friend Janey committed suicide a year ago. But then someone else arrives, claiming to have proof that Janey's suicide was murder.

Themes: mystery, thriller, friendship, Spain, villa

The Goldsmith’s Daughter by Tanya Landman

In the golden city of Tenochtitlan, the people live in fear of the gods. Itacate, a girl born under an ill-fated sky, is destined for a life of submission and domestic drudgery. But her father, a goldsmith, discovers her talent for his craft, and so she begins to work as his apprentice in secret.

Themes: historical, fantasy, family, peril, Mexico

Toro! Toro! by Michael Morpurgo

Antonito hand rears a little black calf and they become firm friends, but the boy doesn't yet understand the fate of the black bulls – the corrida and death. Later, when he learns of the horrors of the bull fight, he frees Paco, the black bull, and rides with him into the hills.

Themes: Spanish Civil War, animals, friendship, peril, survival

Ellen Outside the Lines by A. J. Sass

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. But toss in a new nonbinary classmate and a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona and this trip is anything but planned.

Themes: friendship, Barcelona, autism, LGBTQ+

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. But toss in a new nonbinary classmate and a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona and this trip is anything but planned.

Themes: friendship, Barcelona, autism, LGBTQ+

The Return by Victoria Hislop

Granada's cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets and Sonia Cameron is here to dance. She knows nothing of the city's past. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and a collection of photographs draws her into the tale of Spain's devastating civil war.

Themes: Spanish civil war, historical, Granada

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

Madrid, 1957. Daniel, young, wealthy and unsure of his place in the world, views the city through the lens of his camera. Ana, a hotel maid whose family is suffering under the fascist dictatorship of General Franco. Lives and hearts collide as they unite to uncover the hidden darkness within the city.

Themes: Madrid, historical, peril, romance, identity