Marga Alonso, 46, is one of the few Madrileñas whose family has lived in Madrid for several generations. Director of CES Numen for the past 16 years, she is a great collaborator of ASEPROCE. Spain is one of the leading countries in Academic Year Abroad programs, thanks to the fact that it regulates and formally recognizes the validation of studies completed outside our country.
You trained to help people with special needs, which already says a lot about you. Have you had the opportunity to practice the profession?
Yes, that training profoundly shaped the way I understand both work and life. Although my professional path has evolved over time, for many years I worked as a therapeutic pedagogue in both formal education and non-formal educational settings during leisure time. My experience in this field has allowed me to approach my work through guidance, active listening, and the need to individualize the teaching process. That philosophy remains very present in everything I do today.
Later, you inherited the family business, which focuses on helping our students validate their academic years.
That’s right. Inheriting the family business was a great responsibility, but also an opportunity to continue an educational project that began 50 years ago. Over time, I have adapted it to new educational realities and to an increasingly complex context. Maintaining the original values — rigor, honesty, and commitment to students and families — has always been the priority, even when the path has not been easy.
It feels like each year it becomes more difficult to obtain validations.
That feeling is real. Every year the processes are longer, more demanding, and sometimes less clear. Not because students are less prepared, but because the system has become more rigid and, at times, more bureaucratic.
The law was very solid when it was enacted in the 1980s, but it now shows clear signs of aging.
Currently, Royal Decree 104/1988 serves as the general framework for recognition and validation.
It is a regulation that has allowed thousands of students who completed a school year abroad to validate and have their studies recognized. However, in my opinion, it needs to be updated to reflect the social and educational transformation of today’s world.
The various changes in our own educational system, as well as those that have taken place in destination countries over these nearly forty years, are not fully contemplated in the current legislative framework for study validation.
Preparation for university entrance exams is another of CES Numen’s services. What does your support consist of?
Our support is comprehensive. We do not simply prepare a syllabus or an exam. We guide students and families from the beginning, offering academic and administrative orientation, helping them organize themselves, understand the system, and build confidence. We also provide close and personalized follow-up, because we know that the greatest challenge is often not purely academic, but emotional.
At CES Numen, we offer a preparation course for the university entrance exams that international students must take. These are called the Specific Competence Tests (Pruebas de Competencias Específicas) and are organized by a UNED service, UNEDasiss. The content of the exams corresponds to the Spanish 2nd year of Bachillerato subjects, so students must prepare for them independently of what they study at their schools abroad.
Our course enables this parallel preparation, as it is delivered through an online platform that is highly accessible and easy to use. Our teachers are experts in their subjects and have in-depth knowledge of both the Spanish syllabus and the UNED examination system. Through regular delivery of theoretical and practical content, exercises, and mock exams, students gradually assimilate the material and prepare for their tests. Additionally, if they wish, we can manage their university access document, known as the UNED Accreditation.
Specific subjects also depend on the Autonomous Communities.
University admission requirements and the structure of the exams are regulated by the different Autonomous Communities. For this reason, it is currently absolutely essential to provide individualized guidance to each family and student.
It is important that families and students are well informed about the specific admission requirements of their chosen university. At this point, it is not only necessary to consider the Autonomous Community where they wish to study, but also the educational system in which the student completed their studies.
Every day you wake up with the challenge of defending academic files on which the future of many people depends. How do you live with that pressure?
With a great sense of responsibility and also strong emotional involvement. It is not a mechanical job; you know that behind each case there are people with dreams, families, and life projects. There are difficult days, but also enormous satisfaction when you manage to open a door that seemed closed. That makes any pressure worthwhile.
You often speak about your love for nature and animals. Do you find time for that?
Not always, but I try to, because it is necessary for me. Nature and animals help me disconnect, regain balance, and remember essential values such as respect and patience. Taking care of that personal space allows me to continue working with the same energy and commitment.
They say you have a small ocean at home.
Aquarium keeping is one of my passions, which I share with my cats and my dog.
Interview conducted by Pablo Martínez de Velasco Astray, President of ASEPROCE
