Theresa and Valerie

Theresa O’Shea and Valerie Collins are the authors of In The Garlic: Your Informative, Fun Guide to Spain, now getting known as the must-read book for all expats in Spain.

They are both British writers who have made their homes in Spain. Theresa has lived here for 18 years (in Galicia, Catalonia and then Málaga) and Valerie for nearly 35 (in Barcelona: she arrived at the tail end of Franco’s dictatorship). Valerie’s late husband was a Catalan lawyer with an eccentric family from the rag-trade town of Terrassa, and she has two multilingual sons. Theresa’s husband is from a huge (14 children) Cordobese family. Her late father-in-law was an ex-army colonel who boasted the dubious distinction of having rubbed shoulders with Franco.

Theresa combined feature writing with running a language school for nearly a decade, until two years ago she quit teaching to work full-time as a freelance writer. Valerie first taught English and then worked as a translator before becoming a full-time writer. While each has her own distinctive voice and style, they share impeccable research skills and a much appreciated flair for combining reliable information with humour.

Theresa and Valerie first met by email in 1998. The concept of In The Garlic developed as a way of bringing together their writings to share with a wider public. They work together by email, phone, messaging, and personal meetings when possible.