Move over Lassie, Shep and Well’ard, there are new canine celebrities in the house!
Social media has gone crazy for Barcelona-based dog daddy @lifelikecharlie and the “international women” in his life – charming rescue podencos Nala and Monkey. Charlie (28), whose TikTok channel has just topped one million followers, moved to the Catalan capital nearly three years ago.
Podencos, along with galgos, are the invisible dogs of Spain, breeds with no laws to protect them and are used for hunting by ‘galgueros’ in their native country. Somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 of them are inhumanely killed or abandoned at the end of the hunting season every February.
Follow Hope for Podencos or Galgos del Sol on social media and you’ll see the heart-wrenchingly poor, emaciated and petrified state many of these lovely dogs are rescued in. Many have been kept in dreadful conditions during their short lives, their galgueros regarding them as mere ‘hunting tools’ and treating them with zero compassion, when in fact they make adorable and loyal pets.
Charismatic and devoted Charlie has used his social media platform to lovingly raise awareness of the plight of podencos, showcasing the hilarious personalities and loving natures of his two girls, with regular posts, many of which have gone crazily viral.
While being a singer songwriter is his day job, Charlie has to date raised almost £15,000 for Hope for Podenocos, from where Nala – queen of the mouth snappies – and Monkey – queen of the foot tappies – were both adopted. All money generated via his TikTik channel is donated to the charity.
As a fellow podenco ‘parent’, I was delighted (and a little giddy) when Charlie agreed to answer 10 questions about dog-friendly Barcelona for The Sun Lounger. But if any British fans have become slightly over-excited about the prospect of Charlie and his girls returning to the UK for good, having followed his recent trip home, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. Read on for more.
- First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself
I’m Charlie. I’m a singer songwriter from Surrey, UK, living in Barcelona, writing music and making wholesome content on social media. Nala and Monkey are my two podenco girls. They are both rescues from various parts of Spain. Nala and I have been together for 6/7 years and Monkey just coming up to a year.
Note: there are several different types of podenco – from the dachshund-sized Maneto with its stubby legs to the lanky Ibizan hound. Nala and Monkey are typical of the Podenco Canario (whereas my own Pablo is an Andaluz-type).
- Why do you believe podencos are the best dogs in the world?
I believe podencos are different to other breeds by the way they interact with the world and others. They are less domesticated than most breeds and therefore have a wildness to them still, which you can see inside the home and outside, in nature. They have a very strong prey drive and a huge capacity for love.
See below for a TikTik post (which has received nearly three million views) in which Charlie talks about podencos as pets. You can watch it on Instagram here.
- Some of your social media posts have had a crazy amount of likes. Did you ever imagine it would take off like this and do you and the girls get recognised on the streets now?
It happens a lot now. It feels unusual as I’m a pretty private person, believe it or not. People are very kind in general and make those interactions easy and pleasant!
I’ve always wanted to have a large social media platform to help me pursue my dreams of being a songwriter, full-time. I had some viral success in the past but nothing like this. It has surprised me.
- Is it right you moved to Barcelona for Nala, your first podenco, because of the climate?
Kind of. We did it for other, personal reasons too but she was freezing during the winters in the UK. Barcelona is a beautiful city, full of culture, and it’s close enough to home. I’ve been here for almost three years now and had connections here, before I moved.!
Barcelona is awesome. You have the mountains at the back and the Mediterranean at the front. What more could you ask for? The girls love it here and, therefore, I love it!
It suffers with pretty bad pollution and it can be pretty dirty but I can’t complain really. I am very grateful to be here, in this position.
Home is where the heart is, as they say. Right now, my heart is in Barcelona. I’ve also felt home in the middle of a safari in South Africa too!
- Did you speak any of the language before moving to Barcelona?
I didn’t have a good understanding of the language at all. It was embarrassing and humbled me greatly. I am starting to feel fluent in Spanish and, if I choose to live in Catalonia for much longer, I will learn Catalan too. It doesn’t cause too much of a problem living here without Catalan. I would like to, though, out of respect. It is similar to Spanish but much harder.
- How easy is it to make friends and are the Catalans friendly people, on the whole?
I am a pretty open guy so I make friends all the time. I made friends in school, I made friends in my climbing gym, I’ve made friends at parties and nights out. I even have some childhood friends living/moving here now so we can all be close and enjoy this life together.
- What does your average day look like?
I wake up, I exercise, I walk the dogs, I work, I walk the dogs, I clean the house, read a book and then go to bed. Nice and simple!
- You’ve spoken about managing your mental wellbeing on your social channels. What impact does getting out into nature with the girls have on this?
Nature is probably key for feeling at peace. Sleep too. If I could sleep in nature I would. Walking, smelling, thinking, seeing, hearing and breathing. All very good things to do outside in nature.
- Is Barcelona a dog friendly city?
It’s really dog friendly. You can take dogs pretty much anywhere inside, except places that serve food. Trains are mostly no problem. Yeah, it’s really dog friendly. There are more dogs here than I can believe.
My favourite walk is from my house to a small mountain just above Park Güell. It’s about 30 minutes and around 200m elevation. The view gets better and better and better and better every 10 minutes. The final view, at night or in the day, is spectacular.
In Barcelona, you can let the dogs off the leash in some parks, on the beach out of season and in the trails behind the city,
Dogs must be muzzled on public transport. You are only allowed one dog per person on the Metro, for example. To use the high speed trains around Spain, there are rules about size of dog and small dogs must be put in a crate.
The girls don’t like going to bars and restaurants. They want to explore and run around. They get extremely frustrated sitting still on concrete for longer than three minutes and they whimper.
Note: Park Güell is an enormous garden, perched high on the hills overlooking the city, with stunning and distinct architectural elements designed by the renowned Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí. The park is named after Eusebi Güell, a rich entrepreneur and count that had a great passion for Gaudí’s work and who became his patron.
One of Barcelona’s top tourist attractions, there is a fee to enter (and best book in advance), although entry is fee to local residents.
- And finally, is Barcelona home now, or will you ever bring the girls to live in the UK?
I don’t plan to live in the UK again. If I had to go back to that part of the world, I’d choose Scotland.
Note: Charlie is running the 2025 Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for Hope for Podencos.
Read more about Barcelona from The Sun Lounger here.
Get advice about travelling from to mainland Europe from the UK with dogs here.
Follow Charlie, Nala and Monkey on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/lifelikecharlie/
You can donate to Hope for Podencos via the link on Charlie’s website here.
See dogs for adoption from Hope for Podencos (some of which may be in foster care in the UK or able to be transported from Spain) here.
You can also commission Charlie to create a personalised song for your special occasion here.
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