This paper describes an experience carried out at the University of Iceland with students of Spanish as a Foreign Language within the TALIS project: Stories around the world in a 1-hour long class. The students' level ranged from B2 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The activities were planned so as to overcome the challenge of teaching a class without having met the students previously and without knowing neither about their previous knowledge nor their learning context first-hand. This was due to the fact that the lesson was given during a short Erasmus+ visit of the teacher in charge of delivering it. The activities carried out were based on written and audiovisual materials aimed at dealing with cultural features of different places of the world so as to develop a number of competences, such as the linguistic-communicative and the intercultural competences, while fostering critical thinking. Throughout the session colloquial and sociocultural reference vocabulary was practiced by means of oral and written interaction and through the completion of different activities related to the tales for the posterior creation or compilation of tales related to the culture of origin of the students themselves. Keywords: linguistic-communicative competence, intercultural competence, tales around the world, Spanish as a foreign language.