The international success of Spanish series

 

‘Valeria’ and ‘White Lines’, recently premiered on Netflix, and have joined the phenomena enjoyed by ‘Elite’, ‘La Casa de Papel’ and ‘Toy Boy’, which have been among the most watched series worldwide during quarantine

 

Thanks to the worldwide expansion of streaming platforms it is less and less surprising that people all over the world have heard of series that take place in Spain, such as that of the meticulous robbery at the mint in Madrid, the mysteries that take place in the nightlife of Malaga and Ibiza, or the day-to-day life of a group of friends with a backdrop of Madrid’s very own Gran Vía.

Spanish series continue to triumph all over the world. Valeria and White Lines are the latest national productions that are among the most watched globally on Netflix, consolidating the success of Spanish fiction on this platform, especially during quarantine.

Valeria, based on the novels of Elísabet Benavent - with over a million copies sold - went straight to the top of the list of the most watched series on Netflix as soon as it was released (8 June), and continues to be among the most reproduced on the planet. The series, created by María López Castaño and starring Diana Gómez, achieved in its premiere better figures than other strong competitors on the platform, such as The Eddy -from the director of La La Land- and Hollywood, by Ryan Murphy, creator of hits like Glee, American Horror Story and American Crime Story. Which was particularly successful in Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Switzerland, Venezuela, Greece and France, where it was number one.

White Lines, the newest production, written and directed by Álex Pina, creator of La Casa de Papel and produced by his company together with the producer of The Crown. The plot is centred on a murder investigation following the appearance of a corpse in Ibiza, has also managed to position itself among the most watched on Netflix, consecrating Pina as one of the directors who generates most expectation among viewers all over the world.

 

A successful 2020

 

 

Valeria and White Lines join the growing list of Spanish audiovisual success stories in this turbulent year. The third season of Elite, released in early March, once again demonstrated the potential of the teenage thriller created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona, becoming the most watched series on Netflix worldwide for three weeks, according to TV Time Binge Report (a tool used for audiovisual analysis and monitoring). The two previous seasons also remained at number 1 for three weeks, and managed to stay in the top 10 most watched series of the year on Netflix.

Another one of the most successful Spanish series on this online platform has been Toy Boy which, after its discreet passage through television (on Antena 3), was among the ten most watched series in fifteen countries during its first weeks on Netflix, according to data from the consultancy firm Ampere Analytics.

But if we are talking about phenomena, the undisputed leader is La Casa de Papel, whose fourth season premiered in early April and became the most ‘marathoned’ series during that month. According to data provided by Netflix to its shareholders during April, the platform estimates that, during the first four months of 2020, some 65 million accounts will have connected at some point to the last season of Alex Pina’s series.

 

The value of Spanish fiction

 

Language is one of the key ingredients in the unstoppable success of these Spanish series - which were previously preceded by productions such as El tiempo entre costuras, Gran Hotel and, further back, Un paso adelante and Aquí no hay quien viva. The enormous expansion of the Spanish language - the second language with the most native speakers in the world - has led to an enormous reception in Latin America, the United States and neighbouring countries like France.

Spanish productions have been opening up a gap among Anglo-Saxon productions (the US and the UK make up almost 70% of the platforms). The percentage of original series and films by Netflix and with an exclusive worldwide license of Spanish origin increased from 2.8% to 3.6% in 2019. In the last four months of 2019, Spanish content accounted for 1.5% of worldwide catalogues on all platforms, according to data from Parrot Analytics based on the analysis of 100,000 series available on platforms in 35 countries. Although there is still plenty of room for improvement, this percentage is 117% higher than in the same period last year.

The number of series produced in Spain has grown exponentially over the last four years. If in 2015 there were 38 series - with an estimated contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of 429 million euros - at the end of 2019 the figure exceeded 72 series, with a contribution to GDP of 812 million euros.