Corkonians Abroad: A new life in Spain after pandemic

THIS week, I caught up with former UCC student Dylan Fenton, from Hollyhill, who lives in Barcelona, Spain.

When did you move to Barcelona?

I moved to Barcelona in September, 2021. It was near the end of Covid and I was there after working remotely at home, in my mam and dad’s house, for almost two years.

I was in my mid-20s and getting anxious to get moving and experience new places and things. The initial plan was to move to Australia, the visa application was approved just before they opened up their borders.

I had friends who were already living in Barcelona then who I was chatting with about coming here and they were loving it here, so I said I would try it - and here I am three years later.

What is life like in your new home?

It’s great, I have a good circle of friends who are living very close. I live very centrally in the city, I’m a ten minute walk to the gym and the office, I’m surrounded by restaurants, bars, clubs, museums, cinemas, parks, and all of the events that go on within those.

The beach is a 25-minute walk, or with public transport you could be there or to Tibidabo Mountain in 15 minutes.

What has been the biggest challenge?

I’d probably have to say the language barrier. You can live here with just knowing English and get by, but when you’re committing to life in Spain I think it’s important to learn the language so you can chat with locals, and when you’re dealing with the big boy stuff in life like ringing the dentist. My mam doesn’t speak enough Spanish to do that for me anymore unfortunately. 

I’ve been picking the language up bit by bit over the last two years and I’m living with two friends who are South American. I also take Spanish classes twice a week, so I get a decent amount of practice.

How do you spend your weekends?

That is a tough one. It depends, because there’s always something different. But when I plan for a weekend, it would usually be either to head out of the city or go on a hike - there’s some savage areas surrounding Barcelona for hikes.

When I stay around the city, which I would do more often, I would keep my eye on events like food and music festivals/gigs, then go and have some drinks with friends and go to a club that night if the wind blows us that way... usually does.

When we get closer to summer, there’ll be a lot of weekends spent at the beach, then the wind blows the usual way after a day at the beach.

Tell us a bit about the culture of where you live?

Barcelona is a melting pot for cultures, it’s a very multi-national city when it comes to the social atmosphere so you experience all sorts.

To pick one difference, it would be that the social life is very different to Ireland, almost all socialising here is outdoors, there’s bundles of festivals and cultural events that you can sign up for and meet new people and try new things.

In Ireland, we would traditionally socialise in pubs or community events. The population of Barcelona is almost two million so the social difference is going to stand as a big difference to Cork city. There are more opportunities to socialise here but I think meeting with a typical Irish person in a pub at home would be as much craic as most things that goes on here.

The other obvious differences would be the weather, beaches, and the language.

For culture shocks, I think the first one that stood out and that I still don’t get is the times they sit down to have dinner. It could be 11pm or midnight before some Catalans or Spanish sit down to have dinner, pure madness. The only time Sandra Fenton prepared a dinner that late was the night before Santa came.

Tell us about your line of work?

I work in finance, as an Equity Analyst for Global Shares. It’s a company that started in West Cork and was recently acquired by JPMorgan. There are offices in different locations in the world, but they’re mainly in Europe at the moment. I’ve been in finance ever since I left UCC in 2018.

What has been your most memorable moment in your new location so far?

That’s an easy one, seeing my mam and dad’s face when my brother Anthony, who lives in Australia, showed up in Barcelona to surprise my mam. We were celebrating her 60th here in November, my brother Wayne and aunt and uncle Breda and Liam were here too.

Anthony had been on to me the previous weeks about surprising her and we put the plan in place.

When we landed on a Wednesday, I could tell my mam was a little bit emotional and she was saying to me that all she wanted was for all of us to be together. But little did she know that Anthony landed the Wednesday too. It was magical for them. I’ll never forget it.

Have you been to any sports event?

Yes, I’ve been to a nice few Barcelona Champions League and La Liga games. The stand-out games there would have been against Madrid and then Bayern. The atmosphere in the Camp Nou for those was unreal.

Because the Camp Nou is being renovated, Barca are playing in Estadio Montjuic for the moment, I’ve been to one game there, against Deportivo, with my brother Anthony.

Any special mentions to friends or family back in Cork?

Yes, I’d like to give mention to all of the Norries in Cork, up the Northside haha. But to all of my family at home, to my nan and grandad Dwyer on Harbour View Road, my mam and dad who Facetime me three times a day, my brother Wayne, his fiancee Erica Lowen and my nieces Madison and Lola. To my brother Anthony, his wife Amanda Condon, and my nephew and nieces Charlie, Aria and Millie in Australia.

To all of the lads up in Vincent’s GAA club, who I miss going through the paces with on mucky Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A shout-out to Wayne Long, there was never a bricklayer walk this earth like Wayne Long.

If you were back in Cork for one day, what would be the ideal day for you?

The ideal day would be spent with family and friends. I’d start off by having a famous Sandra Fenton breakfast. I’d round up troops from the family and friends to head into town, drooling away mad thinking about the pint of Murphys I’ll have in Mutton Lane. Get there and do a bit of a pub crawl to my favourite spots in the city. We’d finish the evening off in one of our local spots on Blarney Street, we’d be well fed and watered by the night.