Best Spanish Podcasts by Level, With Their Accents

¡Hola! Alejandra here, Spanish teacher from Buenos Aires.

The short answer

The best Spanish podcasts are the ones at your level and in the accent you need. At A2, pick a show made for learners that mixes in English: Coffee Break Spanish or the Duolingo Spanish Podcast. At B1, move to shows that are all in Spanish but slowed down a little: Españolistos, Hoy Hablamos, Unlimited Spanish. At B2+, switch to podcasts made for native speakers, such as Radio Ambulante, El Hilo or a comedy show from the country you care about.

The second half of that answer is the one most lists skip. Spanish sounds different in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Spain, so I’ve marked where each show’s Spanish comes from.

Not sure of your level? The free Spanish level test tells you in two minutes, and the Spanish level test guide explains what each result means for your listening.

How to pick a Spanish podcast (in 20 seconds)

• You understand under half of an episode? Too hard. Go down a level. Struggling for a whole episode builds frustration, not ears.
• You understand everything? Too easy. Go up. You should catch most of it and miss some.
• Learning for a trip or a person? Choose the country. If your partner is from Mexico City, a Spain-based show will teach you a vale (“OK”) you’ll rarely hear around you.

A2: Spanish podcasts for beginners

These are learner shows. They explain, translate and repeat, which is exactly what you need at this stage.

Coffee Break Spanish

A teacher walks a learner through short lessons, with plenty of English. Very structured, very gentle, good for building a base and getting used to hearing Spanish every day. Treat it as a course you listen to.

Duolingo Spanish Podcast

True stories told in easy Spanish by people from across the Spanish-speaking world, with a host who narrates in English and fills in the gaps. Great for hearing several accents early without getting lost. No new episodes since early 2024, but the back catalogue is free, with transcripts on Duolingo’s podcast site. More on it in the directory: Duolingo Spanish Podcast.

Dreaming Spanish

Video and audio for “comprehensible input”: teachers talk slowly about simple topics and use gestures and pictures so you understand without translation. Sorted by difficulty from absolute beginner up. The directory has the details: Dreaming Spanish.

B1: intermediate Spanish podcasts

At B1 you want Spanish only, about real topics, slightly slower than natives talk to each other. This is the level where podcasts start doing the most for you.

Españolistos

Two hosts, a Colombian and an American, talk about everyday life and culture in clear Spanish. 🤷 Depende del País: mostly Colombian Spanish, which many learners find one of the easiest accents to follow.

Hoy Hablamos

Short weekday episodes about language, culture and current topics, read at a calm pace. 🤷 Depende del País: Spanish from Spain. You will hear vosotros (the plural “you” used almost only in Spain) and the “th” sound for c and z.

Unlimited Spanish

One host talks about learning, habits and stories in natural but patient Spanish. 🤷 Depende del País: also Spanish from Spain.

News in Slow Spanish

The week’s news read slowly, then discussed, with transcripts. Useful vocabulary for opinions and current affairs. It comes in two editions, Latino and Spain, so pick the one you need. Directory page: News in Slow Spanish.

B2+: Spanish podcasts for native speakers

Now drop the learner shows. Podcasts made for native speakers are where your ear meets real speed, real slang and real accents.

Radio Ambulante

Long-form storytelling from all over Latin America, made by Radio Ambulante Studios. Each episode is a true story with many voices, so one hour can take you from Peru to Mexico to Argentina. Transcripts in Spanish and English are on its website, which makes it one of the best bridges from B1+ to B2.

El Hilo

A weekly news podcast about Latin America from Radio Ambulante Studios, out every Friday. Clear and serious. Good for formal Spanish and current events.

A comedy show from your country

Comedy is the final boss of listening: fast, full of slang, and funny only if you catch every word. 🤷 Depende del País: try La Cotorrisa for Mexico or Nadie Sabe Nada for Spain. If you laugh at the right moment, you’re there.

For a longer list sorted by type, see Spanish podcasts on bestlanguageapps.com.

Why haven’t podcasts worked for you yet?

Usually because they’ve been background noise. Listening while you cook is better than nothing, but your brain learns from what it understands, and with half your attention it understands less. I hear the same story every month: years of apps, podcasts and music, and it still feels like day one.

Two changes fix most of it:

1. Listen actively for 15 minutes a day. Play the same short stretch twice: once with the transcript, once without. Notice what you missed the first time.
2. Keep the background listening, but make it easier. Passive listening helps only at a level where you’d follow most of it with full attention. One level down is the right level for the dishes.

Why most podcast lists don’t help you

Because they sort by popularity, not by level, and they never tell you the accent. A learner at B1 who picks the most popular show in Spain ends up hearing comedians talk over each other in Madrid slang, and quits. A learner who wants to talk to their Mexican in-laws picks a Spain-based show and learns words their family never uses.

There’s a second problem: most podcasts are one or two people talking about something. Real life is two people talking to each other, interrupting, joking, filling silence with pues and o sea. That is the Spanish you need for conversation, and you need to hear a lot of it. My Spanish filler words guide explains why those little words matter so much.

What I make instead

I write one real conversation a week in neutral Latin American Spanish: two people at dinner, in traffic, arguing about holidays. It’s the Spanish that works from Mexico to Argentina, at a speed you can follow, with my notes on the phrases your app skipped. If you want a steady supply, get the free weekly conversation.

Prefer to read along first? Start with these free Spanish dialogues.

FAQ

Does listening to Spanish podcasts help you learn Spanish?

Yes, if the podcast is at your level. You should understand most of an episode and miss some. Too easy and you learn nothing new; too hard and your brain gives up and treats it as background noise.

What is the best podcast to learn Spanish as a beginner?

A learner show with some English in it: Coffee Break Spanish or the Duolingo Spanish Podcast. Stay with it until you understand most of each episode, then move to a Spanish-only show.

What are the best Spanish podcasts for intermediate learners?

Españolistos (Colombian Spanish), Hoy Hablamos and Unlimited Spanish (Spain), and the slow news shows. At B1+, add Radio Ambulante with its transcripts.

Should I listen to podcasts from Spain or Latin America?

Whichever matches the people you want to talk to. If you don’t know yet, start with Latin American Spanish: more than 400 million people speak it, and it’s the Spanish of most dubbed films and series in the Americas. You can add Spain later; your ear adapts faster than you think.

Should I listen with a transcript?

At A2 and B1, yes, at least for the first listen of an episode. Read along once, then listen again without the text. At B2, use the transcript only for the parts you missed. For dictation practice, which is good preparation for the DELE listening paper, choose a show with a full transcript on its website, such as Radio Ambulante, rather than auto-generated captions.

What are good Spanish podcasts that aren’t about learning Spanish?

At B2, pick the topic first and the show second: Radio Ambulante for true stories, El Hilo for news, a comedy show from the country you care about. Then search your hobby plus podcast in Spanish on your podcast app: podcast de fútbol, podcast de cine, podcast de historia. A show you’d listen to in English is the one that gets you through the hard first weeks.

Are there podcasts in Mexican Spanish or Spain Spanish?

Yes. 🤷 Depende del País: for Spain, Hoy Hablamos and Unlimited Spanish (learner shows) and Nadie Sabe Nada (comedy). For Mexico, La Cotorrisa (comedy, fast), and No Hay Tos, an unscripted weekly chat in Mexican Spanish by two Mexican teachers. For Colombia, Españolistos.

Is there a podcast that gives you an English sentence and pauses for you to say it in Spanish?

That’s an audio course rather than a podcast. Pimsleur and Language Transfer both work that way. Compare them on bestlanguageapps.com.