PRIME Minister Mariano Rajoy could not pass a school-level English test – according to a recent survey of English teachers in Spain.

Of the teachers questioned by the Cambridge University Press (CUP), 75% believe Rajoy would even fail a primary school English test.

However, Rajoy – who refuses free English lessons – is not alone.

More than 90% of those surveyed believe Spanish politicians to be linguistically lacking, with 88% claiming they have the worst English in the EU.

CUP spokesperson Julio Redondas believes that a historical and cultural resistance to learning new languages can explain this ministerial shortcoming.

Redondas does, however, believe that Spaniards are recognising the importance of learning new languages.

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