The aim of this essay is to explore the way Spanish-speaking cultures and peoples are presented in Upper Secondary language textbooks of Spanish. The study is carried out in the context of globalization and its effects on culture, identity and language teaching. Postcolonial theory and a constructivist perspective on culture provide the framework for the textual analysis which is divided into two main parts. The first part is a statistical overview of the geographical areas/countries of the Spanish-speaking world that are presented in the textbooks. The second part seeks to establish who, i.e. what type of individual, is representing the Spanish-speaking peoples in the texts. The concluding discussion revolves around whether the textbooks reflect a progressive multicultural approach, or if the colonial heritage of ethnocentrism still lingers in the view of culture conveyed.