Spanish-language series on Netflix: recommendations?

Unauthorized Living

The Mess You Leave Behind

Dark Desire

Some mini-series produced by Netflix...

Merlí: Sapere Aude - Carlos Cuevas

Sky Rojo - 3 prostitutes in the run

La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)

Vis a Vis (seemingly a Spanish 'Orange Is the New Black," and there are jokes about the connection in the bright yellow uniforms, but it's a wholly different and much better thing with a Spanish emphasis on revealing the depth and complexity of characters, much as La Casa de Papel does)

Alma (The Girl in the Mirror) - drama with a strain if supernatural plot centers on bus accident that kills many students, leaving one with amnesia; two of the main characters are gay students who survive the accident

Sagrada Familia - a thriller centered on a woman and her two teenage children who move to a rich neighborhood in Madrid with a secret, not the only secret among their neighbors; a gay relationship sprouts between two neighbors

La Víctima Número Ocho - a terrorist attack in Bilbao

Si lo Hubiera Sabido (If Only( - a Turkish soap opera that Netflix was ready to produce but Turkish officials objected to 2 gay characters so Netflix reworked the comedy-drama production and cast and filmed it in Seville. A lunar eclipse leaves a woman with one foot in her past and one in her future, but which is the present? With the very handsome Argentine actor Michel Noher

Los Favoritos de Midas - Luis Tosar stars as rich business presented with a moral dilemma with life or death consequences. Based loosely on a Jack London story

Ofrenda a la Tormenta - 1 of 3 Trilogía del Baztán stories about a detective solving a series of related and horrific murders over a long period of time that have some relation to her own family history in a beautiful small pueblo (near Pamplona) where it never stops raining. El Guardián Invisible us the 1st in the series

And one produced by HBO...

30 Monedas (30 Coins) - s black comedy horror series by Alex de la Iglesia whise work is always crazy and worth watching (I recommend his film El Bar, also, it's the distillation of Spain's talent for making great characters I'd ordinary or flawed people, as in La Casa de Papel or Vis a Vis)

Thank you, r1 and r2! A friend was trying to recommend a show whose title he couldn't remember, and it sounds like "Sagrada Familia." I'll definitely be checking out a bunch of these!

Felt ripped off that "Someone Has to Die" was only three episodes. What was that about? It was just getting going and then it was over.

ELITE. Tons of hot young gay guys in their 20s having sex.

These all sound good.

"Historias para no dormir" is an Amazon series with two short seasons (2021-2022) that revives a classic TV series that ran in Spain from the mid-1969s to early 1980s and were hosted by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador.

A Hitchcockian anthology of terror, it's well and has some good actors.

Not Netflix sorry, but I enjoy Los Espookys on HBO. It's a marmite series, you'll either love it or hate it.

Sagrada Familia will be back for a second season.

House of Flowers (Netflix). Funny, campy.

The Ministry of Time was the original Spanish series American television plagiarized as "Timeless". They wrote into several episodes sly slaps at American television of that sort of actin,

And of course the Money Heist.

The Spanish series [bold]Merlí. Sapere Aude[/bold]. It revolves around a group of university friends and is a spin-off of an earlier series titled simply "Merlí". Several characters are carried over from there, but you don't have to watch the earlier series first. (I didn't.) This series was also my introduction to Carlos Cuevas of [bold]Smiley[/bold] fame. He plays a bisexual philosophy student and is involved with characters of both sexes. A second season has just been released, but I haven't watched it yet.

A movie from Mexico: [bold]Dance of the 41[/bold]. A period piece, set in the early 20th Century. It's based on a true story of a secret club consisting of upper echelon gay men who would meet in different private homes for dinners, dances, orgies, whatever. The son-in-law of the Mexican president was supposedly one of the club members and is the main focus of the movie. It's done in quite a lavish style and is an interesting look at gay life in a different era.

I really liked "Money Heist."

I'm about to start "The Secret of the Greco Family," a Mexican crime thriller.

[quote]The Spanish series Merlí. Sapere Aude. It revolves around a group of university friends and is a spin-off of an earlier series titled simply "Merlí". Several characters are carried over from there, but you don't have to watch the earlier series first. (I didn't.) This series was also my introduction to Carlos Cuevas of Smiley fame. He plays a bisexual philosophy student and is involved with characters of both sexes.

Thanks. This has pretty much universal raves at IMDB.

Warning re "Merlí" and "Merlí: Sapere Aude".

Both are about half in Catalan, half in Spanish.

Only mentioning because OP specifically requested Spanish language series.

I just watched "If Only" this weekend and didn't enjoy it much.

I did enjoy "The Secrets of the Greco Family" and "Sagrada Familia". I guess I like those "twisted family" stories.

Kudos to whoever mentioned "El Ministerio del Tiempo". I really enjoyed that series a few years ago, it was a lot of fun to watch. I think there was an additional season that never made it onto Netflix (dammit!)

"Unauthorized Living", "Dark Desire", and "The Mess You Leave Behind" are all fairly lowbrow, trashy soaps...but watchable, if you're into that kind of thing. I found "Unauthorized Living" borderline offensive in its portrayal of Mexicans. It's a Spanish series, but a big part of the plot involves relatives visiting from Mexico. They're all drug dealers (surprise!), they all speak in VERY exaggerated Mexican accents (all played by Spanish actors, not Mexicans), and they all behave crudely and boorishly, which is exactly the opposite of how real Mexicans from Mexico actually behave.

Anyway, my recommendations:

"La Marginal", a prison drama from Argentina. It's gritty to the point of being visually unappealing, but it's a good, compelling crime drama. I think there were 4 or 5 seasons. There was also a Mexican version, which I believe only lasted 1 season.

Also from Argentina, "Casi Feliz" ("Almost Happy"). Starring comedian Sebastian Wainraich as a radio DJ, separated from his wife but still in love with her. I found it really well done, funny and downright charming. The eps are only 1/2 hour each, so it breezes by.

From Mexico, "Fuerza Negra" ("Dark Forces"). Starring Tenoch Huerta ("Namor" in "Black Panther: Forever Wakanda"). It's one of those "silent, mysterious loner gunman" things. I'd seen Tenoch in some other things, but this was the first time I saw that he really had star potential. I know some people are now criticizing his looks and his physique, but I thought he was sexy AF in this role.

"Welcome to Eden", from Spain. This type of story has been done many times before: basically, a bunch of people find themselves in a place that turns out to not be all that it seems, and when they want to leave, they find they can't. Even though it's a bit cliched, I thought it was well done.

A couple of Spanish period pieces: "La Catedral del Mar" (The Cathedral of the Sea), and its sequel "Los Herederos de la Tierra" (Heirs to the Land). Both based on historical novels by Ildefonso Falcones, set in 14th century Barcelona. Both are great.

If you're just looking for beefcake, there's "High Heat" (from Mexico, about firefighters. They show LOTS of body, each one's hotter than the next, and there's a gay storyline), or "Toy Boy" (from Spain, about male strippers. They show surprisingly little, though, for being strippers. And one of them is gay.) Both are kinda trash, but not unwatchable.

I wanted to recommend a Spanish series called "Patria", but I realized it's on HBO, not Netflix. I loved it, though. It tells the story of the Basque conflict through the eyes of two families who find themselves on opposite sides. Elena Irureta gives an astonishing performance as one of the two matriarchs.

Good suggestions, R14. I especially enjoyed El Marginal, the Argentine prison series. Actors Juan Minujín (Palacios/Pastor) and Nicolás Furtado (Diosito) in the two principal roles are extraordinarily good, and there is some excellent acting from many others as well. I thought it would be yet another brutal prison series, and it is, but the quality of the acting, especially the 2 main characters is something special.

Yes r11 Dance of the 41 worth catching especially for the rather dashing Alfonso Herrera.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I started watching Merlí: Sapere Aude last night and am really enjoying it. The third show I've seen with Carlos Cuevas, who sure doesn't mind getting naked (and I don't mind him getting naked). He can act and has charisma to burn; if he wanted, I could see him taking a path to Hollywood a la Antonio Banderas.

Velvet was very charming. I’ve heard great things about Cable Girls. If you’re in for a long haul, telenovelas I’ve enjoyed include La Reina del Sur, Malparida, Valientes, and Café con Aroma de Amor (the original from the 80s).

I thoroughly enjoyed Gran Hotel and Velvet. But it was a while ago.

Veneno!!!

It’s fantastic!