Contos has 11 Spanish story series at B1, the first intermediate level. Most are narrated in the past, chapters run to 366 words, and the plots reach back years: a lighthouse that lights up after three decades, a brooch stolen from a locked sleeper compartment, a time capsule holding a letter nobody remembers writing. Chapters 1 and 2 are free.
- Series
- 11
- Chapters
- 68, of which 22 are free
- Chapter length
- 279–366 words (average 318)
- Narration
- Mostly past tense: preterite, imperfect, pluperfect
- Settings
- Madrid, Galicia, the Basque coast, Barcelona, Menorca, Castile, and Cuenca in Ecuador
- Spanish
- Spain Spanish, plus one series set in Ecuador
- B1El Edificio de la Calle SolThe Building on Calle Sol · Mystery, RomanceCarmen llevaba treinta años en el edificio, y conocía cada grieta, cada tubo, cada secreto de aquellas paredes. Aquel martes por la mañana, mientras barría la…
- B1El Guardián de Cabo FinisterreThe Keeper of Cape Finisterre · MysteryLa lluvia golpeaba contra el cristal del coche de Sara García mientras subía por la carretera hacia el cabo. Hacía quince años que no volvía a Galicia, y menos aún…
- B1Las Máscaras de CuencaThe Masks of Cuenca · Romance, MysteryEl taller de Mariana olía a incienso y a tela mojada. Era miércoles por la mañana, tres días antes de que comenzara la Semana Santa, y ella estaba de pie sobre una…
- B1La Última TemporadaThe Last Season · RomanceCuando Jon abrió la puerta de la casita, el olor a sal y a pintura fresca lo golpeó como un recuerdo que había querido olvidar. Había limpiado toda la semana,…
- B1La Semana EquivocadaThe Wrong Week · Sci-Fi, MysteryMarta llevaba tres años intentando que RecuerdoCloud funcionara, y tres semanas sin dormir bien. La oficina era un piso reconvertido en el barrio de Gràcia, con dos…
- B1La Farmacéutica de MenorcaThe Pharmacist of Menorca · Crime, MysterySandra llevaba tres días en Es Castell cuando se dio cuenta de que todos la observaban. No de manera hostil, sino curiosa, como si la farmacia fuese una pecera y…
- B1El Reloj de Once MinutosThe Eleven-Minute Clock · Sci-Fi, RomanceRamón limpiaba vasos cuando Marta entró con su boleto de lotería mojado por la lluvia. Eran las tres y media de un martes gris, y ella llevaba quince años visitando…
- B1Las Dos MitadesThe Two Halves · Comedy, FamilyEl bar olía como siempre: a vermut rancio, a croquetas que se enfriaban en la barra, a treinta años de conversaciones que nadie había limpiado de las paredes. Lucía…
- B1La cápsula del institutoThe High School Time Capsule · Sci-Fi, MysteryAquel sábado de septiembre, el patio del instituto olía a tierra caliente y a paella. Marisol Peña caminaba de un lado a otro con una libreta en la mano, como si…
- B1El Expreso de las Once y CuartoThe Eleven-Fifteen Night Express · Crime, MysteryEl tren salió de Madrid Chamartín a las once y cuarto, y Doña Pilar Iglesias ya estaba hablando. Era una maestra jubilada de setenta y ocho años, y no sabía viajar…
- B1El Pronóstico de las Siete y DiezThe Seven-Ten Forecast · Sci-Fi, MysteryA las siete y diez de la mañana, como siempre, la vieja Meteoróloga empezó a zumbar al final de la Avenida de la Estación. Don Anselmo, con su termo de café con…
What changes in Spanish at B1?
B1 is where Spanish stories begin to read like novels. Most chapters are narrated in the past, so you switch constantly between two past tenses: the preterite for what happened next, and the imperfect for what was going on, what someone was like or how long something had lasted. Add the pluperfect (había visto, she had seen) and, at the tense moments, the subjunctive.
Hacía quince años que no volvía a Galicia, y menos aún a este pueblo olvidado donde su padre solía traerla de niña.
She hadn't been back to Galicia for fifteen years, let alone to this forgotten village where her father used to bring her as a child.
El Guardián de Cabo Finisterre, chapter 1. Hacía… que no counts time back from a moment in the past, and solía (from soler) means "used to".
Como si ya lo supiera. Como si hubiera estado esperando que sucediera.
As if he already knew. As if he had been waiting for it to happen.
The same chapter, as the village priest reacts to the news. Como si always takes the past subjunctive: supiera, hubiera estado, sucediera.
Don't stop to analyse every subjunctive. At B1 it is enough to recognise the endings (-ara, -iera, hubiera) and know that they mark something imagined, doubted or wished for. The meaning of the sentence usually survives without a tap.
How do you read a B1 chapter without getting lost?
- Track the people, not the words. Casts get bigger at B1. El Expreso de las Once y Cuarto introduces a sleeping-car attendant, a Galician baker, a shy young man with a toolbox and the retired teacher who owns the brooch in its first two paragraphs. Note a name and one fact for each.
- Let the long sentences run. A B1 sentence often lists three or four things separated by commas. Read on to the full stop before you decide you are lost.
- Watch for jumps back in time. A run of imperfect or pluperfect verbs usually means a step into the past. In La Farmacéutica de Menorca, a newspaper from 1994 pulls the plot three decades backwards in a single paragraph.
- Tap the word the mystery hangs on. Farero (lighthouse keeper) in the Finisterre story, paraguas (umbrella) in El Pronóstico de las Siete y Diez. Words like these return in every chapter.
Because a series keeps its characters and places, the second chapter is nearly always easier than the first. Give a new series two chapters before deciding it is too hard for you.
Which B1 Spanish story should I start with?
- For a classic mystery: El Guardián de Cabo Finisterre, in which a journalist returns to Galicia when an abandoned lighthouse starts turning again.
- For a locked-room puzzle: El Expreso de las Once y Cuarto. A retired teacher's brooch disappears from her locked compartment on the night train out of Madrid, and she questions her fellow passengers with her old classroom notebook.
- For gentle sci-fi: El Pronóstico de las Siete y Diez, where an old weather kiosk prints slips that know about a promise made thirty years ago, or La cápsula del instituto, set at a twenty-year school reunion.
- For romance: La Última Temporada, four friends' last summer in a house on the Basque coast, or El Reloj de Once Minutos, set in a Madrid café where questions left under the sugar bowl get answered.
- For comedy and family: Las Dos Mitades, in which a brother and sister each hold half of their late mother's recipe book.
- For somewhere further away: Las Máscaras de Cuenca, set during Holy Week in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Coming up from A2? The A2 Spanish stories make a good warm-up. Finding B1 comfortable? Try the B2 series, or go back to all Spanish stories.
Frequently asked questions
What is B1 level in Spanish?
B1 is the first intermediate level of the CEFR. A B1 reader can follow a straightforward story on a familiar subject, including one told in the past, without needing every word. Contos moves you up to B1 once you know 1,500 Spanish words.
How long are B1 Spanish chapters?
From 279 to 366 words in the free chapters, 318 on average.
Do I need to know the subjunctive first?
No. You will meet it, often after como si and antes de que, but you can follow the plot by recognising it and tapping when it matters. Seeing it again and again in context is how the forms become familiar.
Are the B1 Spanish stories free?
Chapters 1 and 2 of all 11 B1 series are free, 22 chapters in total, in the browser or the iPhone and iPad app. The rest of each series is part of Contos Premium.