Once you get your head around the Spanish language, one of the most difficult parts about doing A-Level Spanish is the Independent Research Project (IRP), at least it was for me. If having to speak for that long wasn’t bad enough, you still have to come up with the entirety of the presentation by yourself, starting with the topic. For me, coming up with a topic that I was interesting enough and felt comfortable talking about was really difficult, but I got there in the end.
If you need just a little help getting your IRP idea, this article is for you as we give you some to get started.
Continue reading for 21 IRP ideas for A-Level Spanish, an explanation of them as well as some subtopics to start off your research.
Table of Contents
1. To what extent is tourism negatively affecting Barcelona?
Barcelona is one of the main centres of tourism in Spain and is particularly notorious in the tourism front for locals telling tourists to go home. As this is rather a hot topic, at least in 2024, and likely to continue being so for several years to come, this is a great way of showing that you are aware of the issues and controversies in current Spanish society.
For your research project, there are so many subtopics that you can talk about, such as the economy and the impact on locals, making it a great topic that you can talk about for the required time.
Also, if you don’t want to talk about Barcelona, you can literally choose anywhere else in the Spanish-speaking world that gets lots of tourism. My own IRP was similar to this but on the Balearic Islands.
2. To what extent was Roma the most influential Mexican film?
Roma is a film that came out in 2018 that shocked a lot of people when it won an Oscar in 2019. It has also won many, many more awards and has been nominated for even more. You can learn more in this page on IMDb.
Once again, you don’t have to talk about Roma, you can talk about any film that you feel is the most influential from Mexico, or even somewhere else. However once again, there’s lots of research you can do looking at its context as well as the film industry for Spanish-language films.
3. To what extent was Frida Kahlo the most important Mexican figure?
Frida Kahlo is arguably the most well-known artists in the world, not only for her art, but also as a celebrity. Providing some debate is very good to do in your presentation as it not only shows the depth of your research to consider both sides. It also shows that your argument has cohesion and is well put together.
Some other ideas of figures that you could choose are Eva Perón (Evita), Diego Riviera or even more historical/ political figures, such as Che Guevara.
5. To what extent will the Tren Maya positively affect the region?
The Tren Maya is a primarily touristic train line in Mexico that began being built in 2020. The aim of this train line is to connect several states, which would be previously only linked by road or plane. You can learn more about it here on its website.
Just like any major construction project, the Tren Maya comes with plenty of positives but also drawbacks. In your research, you could explore the costs involved, the impact on locals, the impact on the environment and the impact on tourists and the economy.
6. Should Catalonia be its own country?
The question of Catalonian independence is of course going to be something that you studied during the A-Level, even if briefly. It’s a topic that has been debated for many, many years and once again, it’s going to be a relevant topic for many years yet to come.
In your project, you can discuss the benefits and drawbacks to Catalonia of independence as well as to Spain.
7. Should the Basque Country be its own country?
Once again, Basque independence is another well-known topic that you would have covered at some point in your A-Level studies. This makes it a good topic because it’s relevant and realistically will be for a long time.
For your project, you can look at the history of the fight for Basque independence. Also, you can look at the benefits and drawbacks of independence both to the Basque Country and to Spain.
8. How did the Cold War affect Latin America?
If you’re interested in history, there’s a good chance that you’ve looked at the Cold War. This is normally looked at in Europe and even Asia so it would be an interesting project to look at in Latin America.
This topic is quite big so you could either break it down further, such as for a specific time period or even a specific country rather than looking at it all. However, the main things to be looking at are the rise of communist parties, the reaction(s) of the USA and both right- and left-wing dictatorships that were cause by the Cold War.
9. Should the Falkland Islands be under the UK’s control?
The control of the Falkland Islands was put into question during the Falkland War. Doing your project on this will allow you to look into this war as well as the history of the Falkland Islands and their relationship with Argentina.
This idea would be great for you if you’re interested in studying history on your own, particularly as the Falkland War isn’t often covered at school when you study history.
10. Should Gibraltar be under Spanish control?
Once again looking at the UK’s control of territories geographically in Spanish-speaking territories, is the question of Gibraltar. If you do your project on this, you can look into the history of this occupation and how it being under Spanish control would affect all involved: the UK, Spain and most importantly Gibraltar itself.
If you don’t want to focus on Gibraltar, you could instead look at the Spanish overseas territories in Northern Africa. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are all great options that can be explored in the same way.
11. Is the US control of Puerto Rico justified?
The USA has been in control of Puerto Rico since the Spanish-American war and this status as a US territory limits it economically and politically. You can learn more about this on this page of the Natural Resources Committee website.
In your project, you can look into the history of Puerto Rico as a territory of the USA and benefits and drawbacks to both the USA and more importantly Puerto Rico of Puerto Rican independence.
12. What is the most beautiful variety of Spanish?
Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world. Due to this, it has so many different varieties.
There is some debate over which variety is the “best” or the “most beautiful” form of Spanish. While this is entirely subjective, you could look into the linguistics of several varieties of Spanish and compare them to come up with the “most beautiful” or “best”, etc. Alternatively, you could even use this research to show that there is no best.
Here you would want to focus on accent and pronunciation and colloquial terms as well as literature and music of that variety.
13. Should bullfighting be banned?
Bullfighting is very prevalent in Spanish culture and by extension in many cultures in Latin America.
However, there is so much controversy due to the cruelty as well as the danger of it. You could research for both sides of the argument to create a well-developed and cohesive argument before giving your judgement.
14. Should the Spanish monarchy be replaced?
As the authoritarian powers have declined, the question of whether a monarchy is needed has come up many times across the Western world. As we have a monarchy in the UK, you could take your thoughts on our own monarchy and then apply in context to that of Spain.
Things you should look at are the history of the monarchy, their role and the benefits and drawbacks of having one.
15. Was there tolerance between religions in Spain before La Reconquista?
You will have looked at La Reconquista during your A-Level studies and with this topic you can take a slightly closer look into the context of it. With this topic, you should be looking at previous conflicts between the Catholic northern regions and the Muslim southern regions of Spain.
As well as, the presence of a mixture of religions in either part and how people of other religions, such as Judaism, fit into either of these societies.
16. Should Pablo Picasso be “cancelled”?
Regardless of how you feel about cancel culture, let’s talk about its essence as disassociating from figures who are known to have done terrible things. Pablo Picasso is one of these.
In your research, you can look at his treatment of women, appropriation of African art and other misdeeds. However, to have a good presentation, you want to be presenting another side to the argument and look at his positive contribution to art and society.
17. Indigenous languages in Latin America
While Spanish links all the countries in Latin America that you can talk about in your IRP, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of pre-Hispanic languages, some of which are still spoken.
You can research some of these and what implications they have on the people who speak them. Are they bilingual? How is the literacy rate (of Spanish)? How are these languages viewed?
18. Should Día de la Hispanidad be celebrated?
Día de la Hispanidad is holiday in Spain that was originally Día de la Raza, a celebration on the anniversary of the colonisation of the Americas in 1492. While it is slightly different now, the origins of the holiday are still present in Spain and countries in Latin America.
You can research into this history as well as its present meaning and celebration, looking at both of these to form a well-developed argument.
19. What is the significance of street art in Colombia?
If you go to some of the main cities in Colombia, such as Medellin and Bogota, you will see street art everywhere. This street art, at least not all of it, isn’t just there to look pretty. A lot of these pieces have deeper meaning and some even reflect the conflict that was going on.
In your research, you can research specific pieces and explore their meanings as well as the artists themselves. You can put this into the context of Colombia’s more recent history to explore this significance.
20. To what extent has Colombia moved on from the civil conflict?
Colombia is often perceived as one of the most dangerous countries in the world due to the civil conflict that lasted for decades. While it is officially over, this perception remains for many.
With this topic, you can research the extent of which Colombia has changed since this conflict ended. You can particularly look at the remembrance of this period, through museums and other projects, how the rates of crime have changed, and new initiatives that have started since.
21. Magical realism in Latin American literature
If you studied Como Agua Para Chocolate as the book, you will know about some of the magical realism in Latin American literature. However, this genre extends to many other works, including 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and much more.
You can study this genre comparatively looking at the cultural significance in several books or zone in on just one book. Remember that this can’t be the same book as the one for your exam.
You can look at this theme or a different theme if you want through the characters, settings and other genres or themes in the book(s).
This article uses information from the following links: this page from Scribd, this page on The Leaf Project’s website and this booklet from Oakwood Park Grammar School.