Richard Gere says he’s ‘happier than ever’ after leaving America for Spain

Richard Gere has opened up about moving to Spain from the United States with his family.

In a recent interview with Elle España, the 75-year-old said that since making the move with his wife Alejandra Silva and their children — sons Alexander, 5, and James, 4, in addition to Silva’s 11-year-old son Albert from her previous marriage to Govind Friedland — they are “happier than ever.”

“The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum. We are happier than ever,” he told the publication. “[Alejandra], because she is at home and I because, if she is happy, I am happy.”

The Pretty Woman actor first revealed he was selling his home in Connecticut with the goal of moving to Spain back in November 2024. The home had been originally purchased in 2022 for $10.8 million.

Back in April that year, the Runaway Bride actor opened up about wanting to leave the U.S. and start a life with Silva in Spain so she could spend more time with her relatives. Silva, 41, is originally from La Coruña, Spain, though she’s spent considerable time with Gere in the States since their 2018 wedding.

Gere met Silva in Positano, Italy, in 2014 when he was still married to his second wife, Carey Lowell — with whom he shares 24-year-old son Homer. Before Lowell, the Hollywood star was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995.

“For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends, and her culture,” Gere told Vanity Fair Spain at the time. “She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”

The Agency actor further discussed the move while speaking on The Today Show in November. “My wife is Spanish, and we’re going there for her family, her friends, her culture,” he said. “The kids are bilingual, so it’s really going to be great for them.”

Gere isn’t the only well-known figure to have left the U.S. Eva Longoria also revealed in a November interview with Marie Claire that she and her family were splitting their time between Spain and Mexico City.

“I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them,” she told the outlet.

However, she later clarified in a surprise phone call appearance on The View: Behind the Table podcast that she did not leave America because of the results of the presidential election.

“Will you please let them know I didn’t move out of the United States because of Trump?” Longoria asked The View co-host Ana Navarro on the podcast. “I’ve been in Europe for almost three years.”

She clarified that she left the U.S. because of work, adding: “I didn’t leave because of the political environment. I left because my work took me there.”

While the Texas native admitted that living outside the U.S. allows her some distance from “the constant 24-hour news cycle,” she claimed speculation that she had relocated because of American politics was “divisive.”

“We can’t be that way right now,” Longoria said.