Settling in (northern) Spain with Grace Kiernan
La Comunidad readers already know that the northern Spain secret is out — more visitors visiting and more investors investing.
Readers ask me all the time about moving to this part of the world, so I reached out to someone who could help.
Grace Kiernan — from Tullamore, Ireland — met a Santander man in Sydney and, twelve years later, made Cantabria home.
She co-founded Move to Cantabria, the first and only full-service English-speaking relocation agency in the region.
At home with her husband and children, she juggles Spanish and Irish culture, and the remnants of a life built in Australia — there’s no better person to speak to about moving to, and adapting to, life in northern Spain.
The northern pull
Q: We’ll get to Cantabria in a moment Grace, but first: why are more and more people, both from other countries and people already living in Spain, looking to move to northern Spain?
Grace: A few things are happening at once.
Climate is the most obvious — and I mean that in both senses. The heat in the south is becoming genuinely hard to live with year-round. We’re talking about summers where it’s difficult to be outside.
Up here in Cantabria, Asturias, the Basque Country — it’s a different story. With milder summers and green landscapes, it’s actually liveable.
Then remote work changed everything. People realised they could work from anywhere and started asking — so why am I still here? And compared to Madrid or Barcelona, the north offers more space, more affordable property, and a much better quality of life for the money.
Many people are tired of city living — the anonymity, the pressure, the pace. They want slower rhythms, real community, and somewhere that feels good to raise a family.
Getting to know Cantabria
Q: Now let’s drill down to your area of expertise: Cantabria. I’ve lived in Spain for ten years but have never visited the region. I don’t even know much about it — it rarely makes the national headlines, overshadowed as it is by the big cities. What should readers know?
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Grace: Cantabria is small — but that’s its superpower.
Mountains and beaches within 30 minutes of each other. Outdoor life is just part of daily routine here. Clean air, low noise, low stress. Santander feels like a proper city — elegant, manageable, safe — without the overwhelm.
The Celtic roots surprised me when I first arrived. Traditions like the Solstice and Samhain are widely celebrated here. It makes it feel connected to Ireland and the wider Atlantic world in a way I never expected. I always say it’s Celtic heritage with a Mediterranean attitude. It’s really not what people picture when they think of Spain.
On the money side, the big advantage is that property is cheaper, you get more space for your money, and the quality of life is something cities just can’t match at the same cost.
The trade-offs
Q: No matter where a person decides to live in Spain, there are trade-offs. What would someone moving from a major city like London, San Francisco, or in your case Sydney have to give up to enjoy everything you’ve just described?
Grace: Look, the more laid-back attitude can drive you crazy if you’re coming from a fast-paced city. I’ll be honest — it still drives me crazy sometimes. Admin takes time. Things move on a relationship-driven schedule, not an efficiency-driven one. That Mediterranean attitude I love about Cantabria? It applies to bureaucracy too.
There’s also no international school infrastructure, a smaller expat network, and none of the convenience you take for granted in a big city.
The weather — yes, it’s green because it rains. Not all day, not every day, but you need to be honest with yourself about that. We get proper seasons — real winters with snow, genuinely warm summers — but grey days are part of the deal.
And there’s something people don’t always want to admit: the slower pace can feel like a loss if your identity is tied to a career, a network, a certain kind of ambition. That’s real. But it’s also exactly why most of our clients are making the move.
What people miss tends to show up later rather than upfront. The convenience — same-day delivery, late-night everything, endless choice. The cultural scale of a big city. Career momentum. And anonymity — everyone knows everyone here faster than you’d expect.
Before you pack
Q: You’ve helped many people relocate to Cantabria. What do you wish people thought more carefully about before coming?
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