Top 10 Spanish slang words to get you in and out of trouble

Mastering a new language is never easy. The key to arriving in Ibiza and landing on your lingual feet is to hit the streets. In continuation with our ever-popular street Spanish posts, here is the next instalment of essential Spanish phrases to get you in and out of trouble.

1. Chaval/a
Kid, dude, annoying teenager – use this when describing someone who is a bit wet behind the ears or when you pass by a bunch of surly teenagers.

No entiende nada, es un chaval – He doesn’t understand anything, he’s just a kid.
¡Hasta luego, chaval! – See you later, dude!

2. Ser majo/a
This word describes good people.

María es maja – Maria is lovely.

3. ¡Mola!
Cool! I like it! This is an exclamation describing something super cool.

¡La musica me mola! – This music is cool!

4. Puente
Literally it means bridge but it also means long weekend. You’ll definitely need to know this one especially if you have kids in school. Nothing worse than showing up on a Monday just to realise what puente really means.

Este fin de semana hay un puente, salimos? – It’s a long weekend, shall we go out?

5. Mala leche
Bad mood

El chico del banco esta de mala leche. – The guy in the bank is in a bad mood.

6. Chulo
Cool, cute, lovely – you’ll hear this to describe all sorts of objects and situations. It translates as cool, cute, great or fantastic.

¡La bolsa de María esta chula! – Marías bag is cute!

7. Porqueria
Rubbish. Not literally but figuratively, when something is bad quality.

¡Este coche es una porqueria! – This car is rubbish!

8. Hombre
Dude. Often heard at the end of a statement.

¿Que pasa, hombre? – What’s happening dude?

9. ¿Cuanto tiempo llevas aquí?
How long have you been here?

This is important, as it’s a question that gets asked of almost everybody in Ibiza.

10. Guiri
Foreigner – don’t get too offended if you hear this word.