“We stick to an Irish schedule. My kids go to bed at eight, their peers at 10 or 11,” says Tullamore woman Grace Kiernan, sitting in her rural Cantabrian home, in the area often called the España Verde (Green Spain). Although this early-to-bed schedule sometimes means the family misses out on events, she feels her young children need more sleep.
“Even the main meal is when they come out of school at 3pm. There are so many adaptations,” adds her friend and business partner Ríona Kelly.
Navigating such everyday differences is part of life in the northern Spanish region. Far from the sun-soaked high-rise holiday spots Irish people know so well, Cantabria straddles the mountains at the Picos de Europa to the sea in the Bay of Biscay with the sophisticated city of Santander at its heart.
“When people think of Spain, they think of the costas, but it’s another world here,” says Kelly.
“I love the Celtic connection. Lush nature is not what people think of with Spain. But here it’s lush and green, with mountains, skiing, a wild, rugged coastline and great outdoor sports,” she says.
Kiernan’s love for her adopted home is just as strong: “It’s Celtic heritage with a Mediterranean attitude,” says Kiernan, who praises its affordability and feeling of security.
“At home [in Ireland], I find it difficult that I can’t get outside. I am very used to getting out so much and having picnics all year round,” she says.
But adapting to life there hasn’t been without challenges. “The more laid-back attitude can drive me crazy,” says the former marketing agency manager. “My mentality is not to work on island time,” Kiernan says.
Their lived experiences of navigating new lives in the region, from language barriers to bureaucracy and cultural differences, have become the foundation of a business to help others to do the same. But they aim to save newcomers “a lot of stress” and allow them to “start living sooner”.
In 2008, just before the economic crash and aged 27, Kiernan had had enough of stressful living. She left her job, cashing in shares for a ticket around the world. It was during 12 subsequent years in Australia that the seeds of her journey to Cantabria began, meeting her Spanish husband in Sydney.
Another big global event, the pandemic, put in motion their return to Europe. They chose Cantabria because her husband had a property, spoke the language and knew the culture.
But being married to a local didn’t make the transition easy for Kiernan “The first 18 months were really hard”. To help settle in, Kiernan set up an expat parents’ group: “We’d get together to have a cuppa and a chat in English … the impact of talking another language on your nervous system is huge,” she says
Kelly and Kiernan became friends through their children’s school. Being Irish, they followed that compulsion to root out a pre-existing connection: they had been in the same swimming club as children and their parents had known each other.
Kelly‘s knowledge of Spanish (she studied the language in Trinity and went on Erasmus to Seville) gave her an advantage. But her start in the country was not straightforward. She moved to her then-partner’s native city in depopulated central Spain, where she didn‘t enjoy the extreme weather or isolation.
Having previously dismissed Cantabria for being far too like Ireland, it was the appeal of the local Waldorf school (a more holistic approach) for her children which finally brought her there.
“It’s the best move I have ever done” and has the advantage (with direct flights) of knowing she can “be home in Mullingar in five hours … that’s a nice feeling”.
It was through the parents’ group that the idea for their full-service relocation agency came. People would randomly reach out on Facebook seeking advice about Cantabria. “One evening, I saw someone asking about how to get a residency visa. I said to Ríona, there is no one to help them. Maybe we can get something out of this,” says Kiernan.
Many of Move to Cantabria’s clients are families and remote workers coming from the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany. Spain is the most attractive country for digital nomads, according to the Global Digital Nomad Index. Workers are drawn there by climate, cost of living, and quality of life and can offer growth opportunities for some rural European areas, according to the EU programme Interreg.
Climate change means many new arrivals are looking towards the cooler north over the traditionally attractive south. Last summer was Spain’s hottest since records began, with temperatures topping 45 degrees in parts of the south. However, average daytime temperatures in Santander in August last year were a pleasant 23.4 degrees, while in Malaga they were a sweltering 31.4 degrees.
Kiernan and Kelly offer advice on all aspects of relocation – from finding a home and picking a school for children to navigating healthcare, remote working, and getting the right visas.
“It’s the bureaucratic things, things you need that do not exist in Ireland. Renting a house is completely different and very few speak English,” says Kiernan. “It all has to be conducted in Spanish; to be understood, you have to speak Spanish,” says Kelly.
While thousands of Irish and English retirees move to Spain, many are looking to move into communities of English speakers, not something there is much of in Cantabria, says Kiernan.
“For Irish people to even come over on holidays … they need to be guaranteed sun because there is so little of it in Ireland,” says Kiernan.
However, most of Kelly’s clients for her online yoga practice, Tierra Yoga, are based in Ireland. For her six-week courses, she works with the “Celtic calendar”.
Grace Kiernan and Ríona Kelly
The Celtic roots and traditions in Cantabria are strong, and combined with the landscape, make them feel more connected to Ireland. Versions of many pagan rituals marked in Ireland, such as Nollaig na mBan, the Solstice and Samhain, are widely celebrated in Cantabria.
Thus, taking part in Irish rituals and traditions with their children feels more “authentic” than it did in Australia, says Kiernan. “As parents, it’s easier to pass on Irishness to children here than in the south of Spain,” says Kiernan
Setting up a business with another Midlands woman heightens the Irish connection and definitely eases communications. “It’s fantastic working together … we can say yer man and yoke and we know what we’re talking about,” says Kiernan with a laugh.
Are you Irish and living in another country? Would you like to share your experience in writing or by interview? You can use the form below, or email abroad@irishtimes.com. Irish Times Abroad submission guidelines here.