The Spanish take in the English girl (5)
I believe the answer is:
ethel
'english girl' is the definition.
'Ethel' can be an answer for 'girl' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'english' bit.
'the spanish take in the' is the wordplay.
'the spanish' becomes 'el' ('the' in Spanish).
'take in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'el' placed around 'the' is 'ETHEL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ethel that I've seen before include "Lethe (anag) -- Barrymore or Merman" , "Perhaps a Barrymore" , "- Merman, US actress" , "- Merman, US musical comedy star" , "Dame - Smyth, Eng. composer, suffragette" .)