Brittany Ferries has announced a new direct route from Ireland to Spain from the end of April.
The service will link Cork and Santander, making two return sailings a week. It says it will be the first time there has ever been a ferry service linking Ireland and Spain.
Brittany Ferries is celebrating its 40th year in Ireland: The Cork-Roscoff route opened on St Patrick's Day in 1978.
A new ship will be chartered to serve the route to Spain, called Connemara. It will follow the successful économie model that the company has established on services from the UK to France and Spain.
Brittany Ferries expects a fifty-fifty split between passengers and freight carried.
