Foreign language textbooks should not merely concentrate on the development of linguistic competences, but should also aim at promoting intercultural competence. The study examines what current Spanish language textbooks for German learners (Línea verde, Encuentros Edición 3000 and Puente al Español) contribute to intercultural compe-tence and provides suggestions how deficits can be compensated for in these and in future textbooks. Starting out from a critical discussion of various intercultural models, topics and tasks, a list of criteria is developed for the evaluation of the intercultural potential of textbooks. These criteria are applied in a detailed analysis of thematically related units taken from the first vol-umes; this is complemented by a summarizing analysis of the units of volumes 1 and 2. As the analysis not only shows the advantages, but also pinpoints the weaknesses of the text-books, a new original unit is developed based on the topics examined in the detailed analysis and aimed at promoting intercultural competence more effectively.
