Spainfully Honest: Behind the podcast for people living in or moving to Spain

Two Murcia-based expats host this podcast that is gaining attention for its honest and balanced conversations about life in Spain

A new podcast, Spainfully Honest, hosted by two long-time residents, Catherine and Paul, is gaining a loyal following for its honest, down-to-earth conversations about life in Spain. They also dedicate plenty of airtime to help people interested in moving to Spain. The show deals with everything from paperwork, housing, schools, to local customs and traditions.

Catherine, originally from Ireland, has spent more than 20 years living and working in Spain.

“I decided to start this podcast to show what life is really like in Spain,” she said. “It’s important to manage people’s expectations. Many imagine it will be like their holiday experience, but everyday life soon kicks in. Kids still have homework, chores still need doing and life settles into a routine.”

Paul is originally from England and has been living in Spain for over twenty years. Funnily enough, Paul used to be Catherine’s boss, but they clearly got on well as she later asked him to co-host the podcast.

He added, “When Catherine reached out about starting this podcast, I said yes immediately. I get frustrated with all the negative content on social media about living in Spain, and sometimes the overly positive content too! We thought there was a place for more balanced information about living and moving to Spain.”

Find out what it’s really like to move to Spain, from the people who know

The episodes vary, with Catherine and Paul sometimes chatting about their experience of living in Spain, but when they feel the information would be better from an expert, they invite on guests. They have chatted to property experts, lawyers, school directors and many more. They also chat to other expats and immigrants about their experiences in Spain. 

These interviews give listeners trustworthy advice on everything from visas and taxes to finding the right school or understanding local traditions. They speak to people from different countries and expats based all around Spain, from Santander and Zaragoza to places like Sevilla and Málaga.

Even though the podcast has only been running for a matter of a few months, it has already amassed thousands of listeners and has been highlighted by Spotify as one of the best new podcasts and the most talked-about podcast.

“We couldn’t believe it when we saw these messages from Spotify. Especially as we do all the editing and production ourselves. It took us a while to get everything right!” Catherine said, laughing. 

“People seem to like the podcast because Catherine and I just have a laugh doing the podcast, it’s very relaxed and easy to listen to, sometimes too relaxed! Expats like the conversations because it helps them to integrate here and have a laugh at the mistakes we have made while living here. People looking to relocate to Spain love the podcast because it provides realistic information and real insights into everyday life in Spain. We get lots of emails from people in the US and we reply to every one of them,” Paul added.

How to listen to the Spainfully Honest podcast

Spainfully Honest is available to listen free on:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• YouTube
• Amazon Music
• Podcast Guru
• Pocket Casts
• Cast Box