Pablo, Miguel, and Andrea left Madrid to start a business in Galicia: «We turned down a permanent contract to risk it all for Betanzos»

Out of love for art and a need for change, Miguel, Pablo, and Andrea undertook a complete relocation in 2023. The first spark—the idea of leaving Madrid for this gem between two rivers, Betanzos—came from Pablo, who had discovered its charm two years earlier. The trigger was a visit Pablo made to the International Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CIEC) for a course, “something not as well-known as it deserves to be,” his brother Miguel notes. “Pablo came in January 2021, and he was the one who discovered Betanzos,” he explains.

Miguel and Pablo are brothers. Andrea, Pablo’s partner, is the third member of this artistic team who turned an old cookie factory into their creative studio, Río Río, dedicated to ceramics, screen printing, and mosaics.

“Betanzos has nature, rivers, the sea nearby, forests... that’s already something! And it’s a unique place in the sense that there’s movement here—quite a few one-of-a-kind things,” says Pablo, focused on screen printing. He adds that over the past two years, the town has seen remarkable growth in the number of artists, artisans, cultural spaces, and workshops—some even attracting students from the Far East.

“It’s not just us. You can feel that there’s a community of people coming here from other parts of Spain or from the U.S. And every month people arrive from Mexico, Argentina, Japan... That’s what makes this place special. In Betanzos, you can do things that in Madrid would seem impossible,” Pablo insists.

Circumstances in the capital never quite allowed their artistic ambitions to take shape. Those creative urges—what moved Miguel, Andrea, and Pablo to take a risk and leave behind their city, homes, and jobs—found fertile ground in Galicia. They were already artists in Madrid but worked different jobs to make a living. The only one who had a somewhat related job before moving was Andrea. “I worked in something similar to what I do now, but everything changes when you take the step to become your own boss,” she says. Learning to manage herself and realizing that everything ultimately depends on her has given her “a different perspective.” Being employed offers protection, but it’s also limiting. Entrepreneurship means exposure—to freedom, but also to uncertainty. Not an easy path.

Before opening their studio between the Mendo and Mandeo rivers, the brothers Miguel and Pablo were working in different terminals—at Barajas Airport’s T4. “We did all sorts of things. I worked handling luggage, driving vehicles on the runway. It had its appeal—it was like being in a movie—but the hours were terrible. It was exhausting,” says Pablo. Both brothers were offered permanent contracts—offers they turned down.

“We said no to the permanent contract and risked everything for Betanzos,” they recall. They came with what they had to start a new life as artists. That bold decision was immediate for Andrea: she finished her job in Madrid on October 31 and was on the road to Galicia with her new partners on November 1. “The week before we moved, Pablo and I drove all the way to Alicante and back in one day to pick up the ceramics kiln,” Andrea recalls. The kiln, she wrote on the studio’s Instagram account, “spent two nights in a garage surrounded by cars because we had nowhere to store it.”

From zero to boom

They arrived in Betanzos on November 1, 2023, and opened the studio in February 2024. “A year and a half later, we’re still here, giving our best,” says Miguel. From the start, the three “musketeers” of this project felt welcomed and supported by the local community. “But starting a project like this—an artistic one—isn’t easy. You start from scratch. It’s been tough, and it still is, but because there are three of us, we complement each other. We move quickly when opportunities arise, and little by little, things improve. When you look back at everything that’s happened in a year and a half, you appreciate the progress. But day-to-day life is intense—it’s work that doesn’t always feel rewarded, though you can tell it’s not in vain,” Miguel explains.

On weekends, they offer workshops in mosaics, printmaking, and screen printing. Meanwhile, each of them continues their own creative work and personal projects. “You have to make a constant effort to keep everything balanced,” Andrea says.

The trio maintains close ties with the CIEC and welcomes school visits. “You can feel that Betanzos has an energy that encourages creativity,” they say.

Ceramics today is an art eager to be rediscovered—a kind of mindfulness practice that fosters intergenerational dialogue—but “printmaking is still largely unknown, even within the art world,” Pablo notes. “The techniques, the processes, the pieces that come out of it—it’s all incredibly underappreciated. You see the final work, but unless you know what’s behind it, you have no idea of the effort it takes to get there.”

Are we aware of those “unique things” they see in Betanzos—the natural and cultural treasures that make it so special? “There are unique things here that have been forgotten, like the Pasatiempo Park. Right now, it’s not as valued as it should be,” says Miguel, who also believes that printmaking has long been neglected. Mention The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai or Goya’s Disasters of War, and most people will know what you mean—but beyond that, without personal curiosity and research, awareness is minimal.

In her ceramics classes, Andrea has experienced a boom in just a short time, reflecting the current moment. “For several months I had just one student, then a few more joined. I remember that first summer working with the five students who hadn’t gone on vacation. Somehow, that made me realize I was pushing my own limits,” she says. The move taught her that summer isn’t always about rest and bike rides—work can pile up while energy runs low, and the need to generate income remains. “Ceramics has been booming for a few years now. I think people want to make things with their hands again,” she observes. “Working with clay connects you with something inside yourself that you don’t often access in daily life. I see it in my students—it moves something in them. After that August with my five students, September came, I posted on Instagram, and suddenly—boom—it all took off.”

Word of mouth helped too, along with their social media activity. Their ceramics, mosaic, screen printing, and printmaking classes at Río Río all began to fill up. “It’s slow growth, but you can see it when you take a step back,” says Miguel. “We’ve taken advantage of every opportunity that’s come our way.”

“People are eager to do things they’ve never done before,” say the artists, who have no plans to return to Madrid. “We miss some aspects of life in Madrid,” admits Pablo, “but I’d much rather be here doing this than at the airport earning a modest salary. Life here [in Betanzos] is simpler. We don’t miss the big city as much as people might think. I feel very settled here. I can’t speak for the others, but that’s how I see it.”

“I feel pretty much the same,” adds his brother. “I knew what I was getting into when we moved. If you’re prepared, there’s no shock.”

Andrea, “from downtown Madrid,” says that reality often differs from the stereotype: “People think Madrid is full of cultural and leisure activities, but when you live there, you never have time for anything. And actually, I don’t think Betanzos is much slower-paced than Madrid. It’s true that you can find peace more easily here, but I see that there’s a lot of demand. Because it’s smaller, all the plans seem more concentrated. There’s always something to do.”

Her partners agree. “I have more of a social life than I did in Alcalá because back there I was always working, so I didn’t interact much with people,” says Miguel, who adds that Betanzos “has a mystery.” “There’s something here I’ve never seen anywhere else,” he concludes.

“Unless there’s a catastrophe,” they say, “we’re not moving.” These artists left the runway one autumn—and truly took flight.

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