Richard Gere and his family have a new life in Spain.
Last year, the “Pretty Woman” actor, his wife, Alejandra Silva, and their children relocated to her native country and Gere says they’ve never been happier.
“The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum,” the 75-year-old told Elle España of their move. “We are happier than ever. She, because she is home and I because, if she is happy, I am happy.”
Silva, 41, calls her and her husband “soulmates.”
The pair met 11 years ago when they were both going through divorces.
“We are like soulmates,” Silva told Elle España. “We have the same values, we see the world in the same way and from the first moment we felt that we had known each other for a long time.”
At the moment, they’re working on the Sierra a Mar project, an environment and sustainability initiative along the coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“When you give opportunities to the community, they rediscover themselves. They transform and prosper,” Silva said of the project.
Gere added, “Our purpose is to take care of the environment, from the mountains to the sea, restore the ecosystem and the oceans. True sustainability is not measured only in the environment, in what surrounds us, but in the lives of the people who inhabit it.”
The “Runaway Bride” star couldn’t help but rave about his wife, with whom he shares two sons and a third son from her previous marriage.
He also has a 24-year-old son from his second marriage to Carey Lowell.
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“My wife has a glow about her [an] openness and her genuine sense of graciousness of gratitude, of generosity,” Gere said.
Silva said they are both activists at heart.
“One of the things that unites us the most and what made us fall deeply in love was our activist heart,” she said. “Being an activist leads you to infuse your values into the world to improve it. It’s about giving a voice to people who don’t have one and raising awareness. It has a very deep meaning, and we must value where to put our energy, no matter how little it may be.”
The two are also involved in charity work closer to home in Spain, which Silva noted is one of the reasons they moved to Madrid, “to be part of the board of the NGO Hogar Sí.”
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“We want to help this country to end homelessness. Our goal is that, within five years, no one sleeps on the street,” she explained.
Gere first talked about their imminent move to Spain last spring.
“For me, going to Madrid is going to be a great adventure because I have never lived full time outside the United States,” the 75-year-old told Vanity Fair Spain. “And I think it will also be very interesting for my children. For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture. She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so I think it’s fair that I give her at least six others living in hers. In any case, I love Spain and I think your lifestyle is fabulous. Also, your ability to live, transmitting joy and happiness. It is a beautiful place, the food is extraordinary and people exude sensitivity and generosity, as well as a strong will to laugh and enjoy. So I’m looking forward to going there.”
He told Fox News Digital in November that he had lived in New York City since his early 20s.
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“New York gets in your blood. It’s very hard to remove that. It infects your DNA. But I love Spain too. I love Madrid. And it’s time for my wife to be around her family and friends and culture,” he said. “And good for our kids. I think it’s great to be living – not just visiting – but living in another culture.”
Gere told Jimmy Fallon in November that he thought his kids would “flourish” in the country.
“My kids are bilingual, so they’re going to flourish there,” he said on “The Tonight Show.”
He said they would be spending Thanksgiving in Spain and later that month Silva shared a photo on Instagram of their sons Alexander, 5, and James, 4, decorating their Christmas tree, with the caption, “this year finally, Christmas in Spain!”
“My wife, she grew up in a very big Spanish family,” Gere told Fallon. “And her grandmother was kind of the glue that held all of that together. And the grandmother passed away. It was about a year and a half ago, two years ago. So, my wife, I can see her morphing into the new grandmother of this extended family. So, she’s already planning for 35 people for Sunday lunches.”
