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Un trocito de Real Spanish: ¡Es una chapuza!
This video is one of our “Trocitos de Real Spanish” — short clips from our Spanish lessons to help you get used to real, everyday Spanish.
A trocito literally means “a little piece” of something — usually something you can eat, like un trocito de queso (“a little piece of cheese”).
In this Trocito, we take a look at part of our full lesson “¡Es una chapuza!” (“What a botched job!”), from our course Spanish with News and Documentaries 1: Interviews and Reports.
The lesson is all about Spain’s artistic heritage — and what happens when a restoration goes so badly wrong that it becomes a national embarrassment. Some of these stories were so shocking that they even made the news in other countries.
And there’s more! You’ll also come across one of the most famous Spanish “false friends”: embarazada does not mean “embarrassed”... although you probably already knew that!
Note: This transcript has been slightly updated to reflect our current courses and resources, so the video may differ slightly from the text.
View or download the transcript (PDF)
Links to related articles
La leyenda de San Jorge y el dragón
How 'Monkey Christ' brought new life to a quiet Spanish town
10 restauraciones de edificios en España que todos lamentan y ya no tienen vuelta atrás
Botched Spanish statue that went viral is lovingly unrestored
Spain’s latest ‘Ecce Homo’: how a botched restoration made global headlines
Spanish statue bodge-up is a new rival to Borja's Monkey Christ
Curious about the two works of art that ended up becoming a national embarrassment?
All is revealed in the full lesson from our course Spanish with News and Documentaries 1: Interviews and Reports. You’ll also get the grammar worksheet and all the other lesson materials. Try a free lesson today!
Not ready to commit to a full course? Try a free lesson from Real Spanish for Perfectionists, our new series of ebooks + videos.
As Carmen says, “embarazada” and “embarrassed” are a classic example of the many false friends between Spanish and English. Can you think of any others? I’m sure you can—share in the comments! You can also leave us a comment, suggestion, or question. We’d love to hear from you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]