Why It Merits the Recognition

Spanish TV fiction continues to reinforce its position at the forefront of global TV, maintaining its edge, its impact on streaming services and overseas reach. Recognizing its merits, Mipcom celebrates Spain as its 2024 Country of Honor. That honor is based on market performance.

Through Oct. 6 this year, seven Spanish titles hit No. 1 on Netflix’s global non-English TV series charts for a total of 15 of 40 weeks, just ahead of South Korea (13). Japan (three) and France (two) trailed well behind.

“Local Spanish TV shows as diverse as ‘Berlin,’ ‘The Asunta Case’ and ‘Raising Voices’ led the way due to their authenticity and quality,” explains Verónica Fernández, Netflix director, series & films in Spain and Portugal.

At Prime Video, the Dopamine-Focus series “Red Queen” debuted Feb. 29 as No. 1 in more than 20 countries, including Spain.

That successful streaming performance extends to Spanish movies. J.A. Bayona’s 2023 multi-award winning “Society of the Snow” is the most watched non-English language movie in Netflix history.

Launched Oct. 4, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s “The Platform 2” has shot to No. 1 worldwide in non-English-language films at Netflix; last year, Domingo González’s “My Fault” became the most-watched non-English film ever on Prime Video.

Netflix’s 10-year anniversary in Spain next year “will mark a real milestone,” Fernández notes. “At this point, we are deeply embedded in the local creative community, working with over 50 production companies and incredible creative talent.” Little wonder that in 2023, Spain ranked second in Europe, after the U.K., in global streamers’ investment in original content at €1 billion ($1.1 billion), according to a recent European Audiovisual Observatory report.

Beyond streamers, Spanish fiction continues doing business on the open market. Building on favorable reviews and festival buzz, Suma Content-produced “Vestidas de azul,” follow-up to global hit “Veneno,” has been licensed by Atresmedia Sales in more than 40 territories, including Max in Europe and Latin America, Bell Media in Canada, RSI in Switzerland and RTBF in Belgium.

“Spanish TV fiction has reacted, strengthening its bet on more diverse kinds of productions,” says Caroline Servy, managing director at TV think tank The Wit.

“It creates series not constrained by formulas, increasingly telling stories linked to real life facts,” she notes, mentioning Bambú’s “The Asunta Case,” Arcadia’s “Burning Body,” Mediapro Studio-100 Balas’ “Celeste” and the upcoming Brutal Media miniseries “Asalto al Banco Central.”

“The dramas are also narrated with more ambition and creative freedom, allowing different stories to be told spanning many genres, without filters, with few limits and a writing very focused on characters,” she explains.

New Spanish TV dramas walk a path paved by “Money Heist,” Netflix’s first global TV blockbuster, marking the 2018 recognised liftoff of Spanish TV fiction, though Spain in reality has done great business from the 1990s with format sales by Globomedia and Filmax and Bambú Producciones modern melodramas with exquisite production values. .

The local industry has dodged the streaming bubble burst seen elsewhere.

“Spanish fiction has always had a certain low self-esteem. ‘Money Heist’ was a catharsis and a huge boost in self-esteem,” say Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, creators of “Money Heist” and “Berlin.”

Netflix’s eight-season drama “Elite,” set up at Antonio Asensio’s Zeta Studios, interweaves social critical issues with youth drama. It has triumphed worldwide.

“Our fiction has opened up to genres and niches to more specific audiences. We have been able to make the series that aren’t [for the] general audience or are but have much more personality,” says Zeta’s head of development Xavier Toll.

The “Money Heist” creators are now working on a new Netflix original TV series, “The Fallout Shelter.” “When fiction feels free, it is capable of being brutally creative and it begins to dream further,” they say.

“The series we are shooting is good proof of that. We have built more than 8,000 square meters of a set that is a bunker for millionaires. And that is part of the change of attitude after ‘Money Heist.’ Spanish creatives feel capable of doing anything, at the same level as the best,” they add.

So Mipcom’s honor is more than appropriate. “It is interesting how Spanish fiction has reinvented itself. That is why it deserves this tribute from Mipcom. It will allow us to appreciate how much it has evolved in the last decade,” comments Servy.

The Honor program highlights Spain’s significant growth in recent years as both a major international production hub and supplier of quality content to global audiences.

“The position of Spanish content in TV rankings shows us that the talent of professionals working in the audiovisual industry is increasingly recognized globally,” says Elisa Carbonell, CEO of ICEX, Spain’s governmental export and investment org.

Mipcom will offer a special creativity-focused keynote with Bayona and “Elite” producer Diego Betancor. Another panel includes producers analyzing two Spanish shoots: French series “Zorro,” produced by Le Collectif 64, France Télévisions and Paramount+, and Portocbo-ZDF-RTVE’s procedural “Weiss & Morales.”

Oct. 21 also sees the world premiere of RTVE period drama “Ena. La Reina Victoria Eugenia,” a co-production about Queen María Eugenia de Battenberg, created by “The Department of Time’s” Javier Olivares.

In addition, ICEX will showcase new content, including a Fresh TV session from the Wit.

“Our goal is to forefront Spanish audiovisual talent,” Carbonell says.