Are you a fan of series and are you looking for a fun and effective way to improve your Spanish? You're in the right place! Because a different and fun way to learn Spanish is by watching series.

Learning Spanish can be a challenging journey, but with the right combination of entertainment and learning, the process becomes a fascinating adventure. In this article, we recommend you several Spanish series to improve your level of Spanish while enjoying a fun, mysterious or historical story.

Read this article in Spanish here.

La casa de papel (Money Heist)

One of the best-known series on the Spanish audiovisual scene. La casa de papel is a popular thriller that follows a group of robbers as they attempt to pull off an elaborate robbery of the Spanish National Mint.

This Spanish series is known for its fast-paced and exciting dialogue. It has 5 seasons full of action, romance and intrigue.

Vis a vis (Locked up)

This popular Spanish series is set in a women's prison and follows the story of Macarena Ferreiro, a woman who is imprisoned for money laundering. This story provides an opportunity to learn the Spanish language and colloquial expressions used in a prison.

Aquí no hay quién viva

One of the most recognised Spanish series in Spain, also known by the acronym ANHQV, which stands out above all in the comedy genre. The plot narrates the life of the neighbours of an old building in the centre of Madrid, with an ironic and humorous tone. Many of its phrases have gone down in the history of Spanish culture, so you can't miss this Spanish serie!

El ministerio del tiempo

A Spanish sci-fi/adventure series that follows a team of three agents who travel back in time to protect the history of Spain. The series is very interesting and presents a variety of historical contexts of the lives of artists, painters, and monarchy in Spain.

Merlí

This series focuses on a charismatic philosophy professor and his students. It is a good option for learning philosophical terms and exploring everyday life issues through philosophy. The original version of the series is in Catalan, but you can also enjoy it dubbed into Spanish.

Un paso adelante (One step forward)

This Spanish series about a dance academy caused quite a stir in France, where it is known as 'Une, deux, trois'. It tells the story of a group of young people who enter the prestigious School of Performing Arts. Follow the lives of these dancers and improve your Spanish by watching this series if you like the world of dance.

Las chicas del cable (Cable Girls)

Set in the 1920s, this Spanish series follows a group of female telephone operators who fight for their independence and rights. It is an interesting option to learn about Spanish history and the role of women in the society of the time.

Gran Hotel

A historical drama set in the early 20th century in a luxury hotel. The story follows a young man from a humble background who arrives at the idyllic Gran Hotel to visit his sister, who works there. When he arrives at the Grand Hotel, however, he discovers that no one has heard from his sister for some time.

The series offers a glimpse into the society and culture of the time, with plenty of intrigue, romance, and action.

Velvet

This Spanish series is set in the 1950s. The plot focuses on a high fashion department store in Madrid. The plot shows the transition from haute couture to prêt à porter fashion. A good option to learn about fashion and the style of the period in Spain.

El tiempo entre costuras (The time in between)

This Spanish series is based on the novel of the same name written by María Dueñas. The story follows the life of Sira, a dressmaker who leaves pre-Civil War Madrid for Tangiers for love. There she becomes embroiled in a plot of espionage and historical events during Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Los Serrano

A family comedy revolving around the life of Diego Serrano, a man with three children who remarries a woman who has two daughters from a previous marriage. The plot revolves around the new life of these 7 people and how they must cope with a very funny cohabitation. This Spanish series offers every day, colloquial situations.

Élite

Terminamos con esta popular serie de televisión española disponible en Netflix. Élite cuenta la historia de un grupo de estudiantes de un colegio privado ‘Las Encinas’, donde llegan tres nuevos alumnos becados. La diferencia entre clases da lugar a un asesinato, ¿serás capaz de averiguar quién es el culpable?

These Spanish series offer a wide range of genres, from historical dramas to contemporary comedies, allowing you to learn Spanish while improving your comprehension and vocabulary in different contexts.

As well as learning the language through Spanish series, another good way to improve your Spanish is to study Spanish in Spain. With don Quijote's intensive Spanish courses you can improve your level with native teachers in a unique environment. We have Spanish courses for all levels and ages.

The art of painting is a form of expression that has endured beyond time and space, a place where society has projected the lights and shadows of humanity, all that we admire and reject of ourselves. As it happens with historical narratives, the art of painting is the reflection of our actions, a perspective on the events that have shaped our collective and cultural imaginary.

From mythological images and landscapes that elevate the spirit, through illustrious portraits of high society and until the social and individual realities embodied in different scenes of the art of painting; Spanish history has been drawn through different paintings that left an important heritage at a time when we still did not have the faithful reflection of photography or tv.

Keep reading this article if you want to discover the history of Spain through the art of painting in English. Click here if you prefer to do so in Spanish.

1. La rendición de Granada (English: The surrender of Granada)

Although there is another painting —exhibited in the Conference Hall of the Spanish Senate and painted by the great Francisco Pradilla— with the same name and more famous, this other historical painting by the Spanish painter Francisco Bayeu y Subías. It served as a sketch for the fresco decorating in the former dining room of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

After several years of fighting against Arab influence, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain managed to conquer the ancient Kingdom of Granada in 1491, thus defeating the last Muslim kingdom of the Iberian Peninsula. The conquest of Granada marked the end of the so-called Reconquista, which lasted about 700 years and was one of the most important chapters in the history of Spain.

Virtual visit of the painting La rendición de Granada at the Prado Museum.

2. Doña Juana la Loca

This work by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz portrays a very important character in the history of Spain: Joanna of Castile. Better known as "Juana la Loca", Joanna of Castile was one of the great muses of the art of painting. Daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, she went down in history for her stormy marriage with her cousin, Philip the Handsome or the Fair. Although she never had any real power, she was Queen of Castile after the death of Isabel the Catholic in 1504. Her supposed mental illness caused her to be locked up in the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara, Tordesillas, from the year 1509 until her death in 1555. In this historical painting we can see her next to her husband's coffin, dressed in mourning and with an indifferent expression.

Virtual visit of Doña Juana la Loca at the Prado Museum.

3. Conquista de México por Hernán Cortés —16 and 17— (English: Conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés)

This is a historical painting by Miguel and Juan González. It belongs to a collection of 24 pieces created especially for King Charles II, "The Bewitched" of the Austrias’ dynasty. Hernán Cortés landed in Veracruz, Mexico, with a small army in April 1519, a fact that marked the beginning of the conquest of the Mexican territory. Thanks to the alliance with indigenous Tlaxcaltecas and Totonatas, the advance of the Spaniards reached the ears of Moctezuma II, the Aztec Tlatoani, and he presented the invaders with presents and riches in the hope that they would leave. This is the moment that immortalized this fantastic historical painting.

Virtual visit of La conquista de México por Hernán Cortés at the Prado Museum.

4. Carlos V en la Batalla de Mühlberg (English: Carlos V in the Battle of Mühlberg)

Both the power and the gallantry of Emperor Charles V, a great figure of the Spanish history, are reflected in this magnificent oil on canvas work of Titian or Tiziano, the great Italian painter of the Renaissance. This historical painting shows the victory of the young German emperor, son of Juana I of Castile, at the beginning of the 16th century at the Battle of Mühlberg. History says that the theories of religious Protestantism by Martin Luther had spread throughout central Europe. In the year 1530, several Lutheran nobles allied themselves in the so-called "Smalkalda League" and faced the Catholic Carlos V, who defeated his enemies with bravery.

Virtual visit of Carlos V en la Batalla de Mühlberg at the Prado Museum.

5. La Invencible (English: The Invincible)

An enraged sea comes alive in this impressive painting by Spanish painter José Gartner de la Peña. Although in those years it was known as the Great Navy, the Invincible Navy was a powerful naval fleet sent by King Felipe II to the British Isles in 1588 - Spanish Golden Age - in order to take possession of them overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I. The support provided by the British to the independence of Flanders and the constant pirate approaches on Spanish ships led the king to try to end the Anglo-Spanish war once and for all. However, it was a great storm the main cause of the sinking of the Invincible Navy, becoming one of the greatest enemies in the history of Spain.

Virtual visit of La Invencible at the Prado Museum

6. Las Meninas

Las Meninas is Velázquez's masterpiece, as well as one of the most studied paintings in the history of universal art. This is the portrait of the family of Felipe IV, in addition to a perfect example to illustrate the unique pictorial ability of this author, especially as regards his masterful use of perspective. While the historical painting reflects in detail the opulent isolation in which both the court and the royal family lived, the country was entering a stage of decline that would end the Austrian dynasty, one of the most important in the history of Spain.

Virtual tour of Las Meninas at the Prado Museum.

7. La familia de Carlos V (English: The family of Carlos IV)

This historical painting is a portrait of the royal family painted by Francisco de Goya. The painting hides some details that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The reign of Carlos IV passed to the history of Spain for its complete abandonment of the country's needs, which were left to Manuel Godoy while Carlos IV was engaged in hunting and other hobbies. Family and political tensions led his son, Fernando VII, to lead the famous Aranjuez mutiny in order to defeat Godoy and proclaim himself king of Spain. The family distribution in the painting is similar to that of Las Meninas by Velázquez. In addition, the fact that Queen Maria Luisa occupies the central position in the painting, normally reserved for the king, is considered a premeditated mockery by the Spanish painter towards the lack of command of the monarch.

Virtual visit of La familia de Carlos V at the Prado Museum.

8. Los fusilamientos (English: The executions)

Los fusilamientos are probably the most popular picture by the great Spanish painter of the Romanticism period: Francisco de Goya. This painting represents the massacre of the rebels by Napoleon's forces and the French repression against them in the Spanish War of Independence.

Virtual visit of Los fusilamientos at the Prado Museum.

At don Quijote, we hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you want to learn more about the art of painting in Spain, check out our video about these 5 Spanish painters you should know:

"Why should they not add a supplement to History, giving it, for example, a very discreet name so that women could figure in it without impropriety?" Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

This quote by the famous British writer Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) criticizes the lack of visibility suffered by women writers. The phrase is an excerpt from the essay work entitled A Room of One's Own, in which Woolf reflects on the fact that women have never been able to enjoy an own space that would allow them to participate in public, political, and social life; thus women had been forced to play a single role in life: the care of the home and the family. But were there women who exercised other roles in the shadow?

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." Virginia Woolf

When we say that a literary work is anonymous, we mean that there is no accurate information about its authorship. Many of the great works of the Spanish literature are anonymous, such as El Lazarillo de Tormes or El Cantar del Mío Cid. Similarly, we can find great examples in foreign literature, such as The Thousand and One Nights or The Saga of Erik the Red.

Although today it is impossible to know who is behind the authorship of these great masterpieces —saying that they were all written by women would be too reckless, but some of them surely were— we have enough data to determine the impact generated by women writers who decided to sign their works under a pseudonym in order to have more credibility and visibility. Data that, on a day like today, March 8, 2020, International Women's Day, we want to share with all of you.

Continue reading if you want to know the story behind these 5 Spanish female writers who used a pseudonym to publicize their literary work. If you prefer to do it in Spanish, click here.

1. Cecilia Böhl de Faber and Larrea (1796-1877)

Cecilia Böhl de Faber and Larrea was a Spanish woman writer who, in order make a space for herself in a men’s wolrd, signed her works under the pseudonym of Fernán Caballero. Remember that we are talking about the Spain of the nineteenth century, a Spain where it was very complicated to be a woman with aspirations beyond getting married and forming a family.

It is curious that, in some way, it was his father who gave her the idea, when what he really intended was to dissuade her from her desire to be a writer. Apparently, he told her not to waste her time on such matters, as they were reserved for the male gender since women were not prepared nor skilled on an intellectual level.

However, it seems that Cecilia was really determined, and, hidden behind the male privilege provided by the pseudonym, she managed to fulfill her dreams, becoming one of the first Spanish female writers. She died in the city of Seville in 1877.

2. Matilde Cherner (1833-1880)

Matilde Cherner was a great Spanish female writer, although she also stood out in the area of ​​journalism. She was born in the city of Salamanca in the year 1833, and, under the pseudonym Rafael Luna, published her first narrative works —Novelas  que parecen dramas (1877), Las tres leyes (1878), Ocaso y aurora * (1878), and María Magdalena: estudio social (1880)— as well as a large number of critical reviews.

In addition, she wrote some theatrical works signed with her real name —Don Carlos de Austria and La Cruz— which, according to the writer, were rejected to stage El haz de leña (by Núñez de Arce) and Don Rodrigo (by Laserna) instead. In fact, these works dealt with topics and issues very similar to those included by Matilde Cherner in hers. She also wrote several reviews, such as Juicio crítico sobre las novelas ejemplares de Cervantes, and collaborated in La Ilustración de la Mujer —a Madrid magazine of the time that was one of the first adopting feminist perspectives—and in the Ilustración Republicana Federal. She did not hesitate to write about controversial issues such as women's education, prostitution or access to power.

Matilde Cherner has been described as a woman of clear progressive ideas and strong political convictions, and also as a convinced federal Republican. She died in Madrid in 1880 because of an aneurysm, according to different sources.

*It was a work thought to be a serial for the press. It deals with issues such as monarchy and patriotism, ocusing on the impact that historical events generate on the personal lives of the protagonists, especially women. With this novel, Matilde recovers her real name, eliminating the male pseudonym. Somehow, this fact led the writer to rescue her intellectual identity: Republican woman, progressive ideas and marked freedom of thought.

3. María Lejárraga (1874-1974)

María Lejárraga was a female novelist, essayist, translator and Spanish playwright. She was born in the late nineteenth century in a Riojan town called San Millán de la Cogolla, and, hidden behind the name of her husband —Gregorio Martínez Serra— became a brilliant writer, a great reference of the so-called Silver Age of the Spanish literature - period that covers from 1900 until the end of the Spanish Civil War. She died in exile in the city of Buenos Aires in 1974.

However, in these times when it seems that we are surpassing the canons established in times past, the figure of María Lejárraga has returned to stay. Today, it is well known, that, the works for which her husband took all the credit —such as the adaptations to theater of El sombrero de tres picos and El amor brujo, by Manuel de Falla— were actually written by María de la O Lejárraga. The recovery of her real identity on the covers of her literary works, returns her the recognition that she should never have lost.

4. Carmen Martín Gaite (1925-2000)

Carmen Martín Gaite was born in Salamanca in 1925. She graduated in Philosophy and Letters and, when she was only 25, she moved to Madrid to do her PHD. Carmen Martín Gaite belongs to the group of Spanish female writers who stood out in the so-called “first postwar period in literature”, along with other pioneers such as Ana María Matute, Carmen Laforet, Elena Soriano and Josefina Aldecoa.

She established herself as a famous writer with the novel entitled El balneario, which was first published in 1957 despite having received the Café Gijón Award three years before. Entre visillos is one of her most popular books. It is an exciting story about youngsters who lived in a small city similar to Salamanca. She won the Nadal Prize thanks to this novel under the pseudonym Sofía Veloso —the name of her grandmother. The reason why she did not use her real name was that her husband - the famous writer Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio— was also in the prize’s short list of that same year.

Carmen Martín Gaite has been one of the best Spanish female writers of all time, coming to reject an armchair at the RAE —Royal Academy of the Spanish Language. She won numerous awards and continue writing until her death in Madrid in 2000.

5. Teresa de Escoriaza y Zabalza (1891-1968) 

Teresa de Escoriaza y Zabalza was born in San Sebastián on December 7, 1891. She was a great Spanish journalist and writer who, in order to gain visibility, wrote under the male pseudonym Felix de Haro.

Teresa de Escoriaza and Zabala stood out above all as a correspondent during the Rif War, but also collaborated with various publications such as La Libertad, Mundo Gráfico or El Eco de Galicia. In addition, it is said that it was she who gave the first feminist speech in the history of the Spanish radio. She also wrote a large number of war chronicles such as Del dolor de la guerra (chronicles of the campaign of Morocco) or El cresol de las razas.

She lived a long time in the United States, where she moved before the Spanish Civil War and worked as a Spanish teacher. He decided to return to Spain a few years before she died in 1968.

At don Quijote, we hope you enjoyed today's article and we also take the opportunity to wish you a happy International Women's Day.

Leon Tolstoy said that "Art is one of the means of communication between people." And he was right, because people live in society and communicate through different expressive elements such as words, movements, sounds, colors and shapes. Thus, in the same way that language did, the different artistic disciplines were born. Painters, for example, express themselves through the composition of shapes and colors.

Click here if you prefer to read this article in Spanish.

As we have stated on previous occasions, getting to know a language is also getting to know the context where it is articulated and developed. Language is the tool that human beings have to express what we feel, perceive, dream, believe or even know; the brush we have to paint our reality. Thus, language serves us as not only as the main instrument to decode the world around us, but also to describe and define ourselves as individuals.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the language of a pueblo —remember that there is no language without people using it— cannot be understood without the culture in which interaction is framed, since culture is only the reflection of the concerns and stories that make up a social reality. Similarly, different forms of cultural expression, such as art, have contributed to frame our language within a given social and historical context.

At don Quijote, we want to get you a little closer to the Spanish language through its cultural expression in the art of painting. Spain is a country with a broad historical and social tradition, so the different and major pictorial movements that have accompanied its history also reflect a vibrant and diverse reality.

While it is true that Pablo Picasso —the most international Spanish painter— marked a before and after in art worldwide, it is also true that there were other essential Spanish painters without whom we could not understand the current society of the Hispanic country. To publicize some of their names, we want to share with you 5 famous Spanish painters (that are not Pablo Picasso), as well as some of their fundamental works.

1. Francisco de Goya (Spain, 1746 - France, 1828)

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was an 18th-century Spanish painter who produced mainly oil painting, drawings and an important collection of etchings. He was the greatest exponent of Spanish Romanticism and also the father of contemporary movements, such as modernism and impressionism. In addition, he had great influence on the works of other later painters such as Pablo Picasso and Édouard Manet.

If you click on the title, you can enjoy a virtual view of one of his main works, exhibited at the Prado Museum: La maja vestida

2. Diego Velázquez (Seville, 1599 - Madrid, 1660)

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, known as Diego Velázquez, was the most representative painter of the Spanish Golden Age. Although its great relevance was not recognized until 200 years after his death, Diego Velázquez was one of the most important figures in the history of Spanish painting, but also an authentic master internationally, even considered by many experts as the most talented painter of all time.

If you click on the title, you can enjoy a virtual view of one of his main works, exhibited at the Prado Museum: Las Meninas

3. Juan Gris (Spain, 1887 - France, 1927)

José Victoriano González-Pérez, better known as Juan Gris, was a Spanish painter of the 20^th century who developed his activity especially in Paris. The great influence he received from artists such as Cézanne, Picasso and Braque led him to identify himself within Cubism, becoming one of the highest representatives of this artistic movement.

If you click on the title, you can enjoy a virtual view of one of his main works, exhibited at one of the most important Spanish museums, the Reina Sofía Museum: La guitare

4. Joan Miró (Barcelona, ​​1893 - Palma de Mallorca, 1983)

Joan Miró was one of the best Spanish painters of the 20th century. He was also a sculptor, engraver and potter, but his main role was in painting, becoming one of the most relevant figures of surrealism worldwide. In his works, we can see reflected the fascination he felt for the subconscious, the main theme of surrealism, as well as a style marked by parameters that make his art recognizable to the naked eye.

If you click on the title of the painting, you can enjoy a virtual view of one of his main works, exhibited at the Reina Sofía Museum: La sonrisa de las alas flameantes

5. Salvador Dalí (Catalonia, 1904 - Catalonia, 1989)

Together with Pablo Picasso, Dalí is one of the most popular and famous Spanish painters of all time. He was the most prominent artist of the Spanish surrealism and changed the way aesthetics and were understood worldwide. Dalí was an eccentric as no other, and he knew how to exploit that condition on a professional level. Both his personal image and his ideas are impregnated with its artistic sensibility, something unique of his kind. Salvador Dalí remains as an essential reference in arts nowadays.

If you click on the title, you can enjoy a virtual view of one of his main works, exhibited at the Reina Sofía Museum: El gran masturbador

Grabbing your remote control and turning on the television is probably one of the activities you perform most frequently at home.

However, do you know how much work is actually behind this simple move? Keep on reading in Spanish to find out.

A Little Bit of History

Before television appeared as we know it today, many technological advancements took place. Some of those experiments led to the emergence of the modern TV.

Back in 1884, people managed to project the light objects issue using a metal disk and a light. However, it wasn’t until 1925 when they used these disks together to make up a real image. One of the disks worked as an issuer and the other one as a receptor.

Little by little, they kept on increasing the distance between both disks and repeating the same experiment, but through a telephone wire.

Five years after that test, in 1930, it took place the first simultaneous broadcasting: image plus audio. But what we know today as TV was still far from being achieved.

This broadcasting was the first of many of them, but they were all irregular and not scheduled.

In 1936, England started broadcasting with a consistent programming, and the United States began doing so in 1939. During the middle of the 20th Century, television started to spread throughout the world.

And What About Color Television?

During all this time there were a lot of scientists trying to achieve color images. But it wasn’t until 1970 when we finally got screens that could show the real color of objects.

Over the years and with a little help from the technological advancements, TV improved its quality and reached more and more houses.

The use of satellites helped broadcasting get faster. This way, TV got faster as well and reached more places around the world. Besides, satellites helped giving access to foreign TV shows.

And if you think that’s already a big improvement, wait to see what happened in the 80s. With digitalization, video production and broadcasting reached a whole different level of quality and speed rates.

As a consequence, TV started replacing the radio as the most popular medium for information.

However, these advancements didn’t arrive at the same time to all countries.

Television in Spain

While England’s first broadcasts took place around 1936, in Spain we had to wait 20 years more for that. The ordinary broadcasts at the time were mass ceremonies, official speeches, classic music concerts, etc. 

In 1959 it took place the very first TV broadcast in Spain: a soccer match. It was Real Madrid playing against Barcelona, causing TV sales to increase significantly before the game.

Until that point, all TV screens sold in Spain were imported. In 1960 they started being produced in the country and, as a consequence, they became cheaper. By the end of the decade, there was a television in almost 40% of the Spanish households.

The first color broadcasting that took place in Spain was the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969, live from Madrid. However, as the cameras and the rest of the equipment was provided by other countries, that was only an exception.

From 1973 on, black and white and color broadcasts shared space in Spain. But in 1978, color took over the power of TV.

World Television Day

And because such advancement should not be forgotten, since 1996 we celebrate World Television Day on November 21, commemorating the date on which the first World Television Forum was held.

The United Nations countries came to an agreement to make TV a broadcast medium for news and relevant information, promoting shows that were focused on peace, safety and social development, among other topics.

And what’s left of this story, you probably know it firsthand. DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) made it possible to watch more channels with improved image quality and services. Nowadays, we talk about Smart TVs, apps and cutting-edge streaming platforms.

Humans are full of prejudices. Although this can be negative, it’s something that helps us to categorize and understand the world in a faster and easier way. No one is completely free from stereotypes, but in Spain, we often complain that the way other countries see us doesn’t always correspond to reality, nor can it be extended to all regions and cultures living together within our borders.

The influence that Hollywood has exerted on the image we have of other cultures has played a leading role. The stereotypes about Spain seen in American series and films have spread common misperceptions about Spaniards: we all love napping, soccer, bullfighting, and flamenco. In this way, our special traditions are not always understood as well as we would like.

In today's post, we take the opportunity to share with you some of the most famous film scenes that have created false myths about Spain.

You can continue reading in Spanish if you’d like to practice your reading comprehension.

Mission Impossible II

To begin with, let’s look at one of the best known and extravagant examples: Mission Impossible II. In the film, Tom Cruise lives a unique experience: Holy Week in Seville, the Fallas in Valencia, and San Fermines in Pamplona, ​​all together in the same scene. (In fact, not only do these festivals take place in different cities, they also happen at different times during the year.) Anthony Hopkins (Swanbeck in the film) himself is amazed and puzzled at such a spectacle: "Festivals are a pain in the ass. Honoring their saints by setting them on fire. Let's you know what they think of saints, doesn't it?” We Spaniards were even more perplexed at these tremendous cultural misconceptions. (For the record, saints are not burned in any of the three separate festivals untruthfully mixed together here.)

McGyver and the Basque conflict

In the first season of the MacGyver series, we can see a very original, and hilariously inaccurate, representation of the people living in the Basque Country. This action hero of the 80s fights against some mountaineers wearing the traditional Basque txapela hat; or as they’re referred to in the episode, "Basque mountain men who’d been feuding with France or Spain for as long as anyone can remember." The departure from the truth is such that the village looks more like a military jungle camp than anything else. In addition, the series shows bananas being grown there, very common in the Basque Pyrenees (note the sarcasm). And of course, you could not miss the “typical” local clothing, which, according to the series, is no more than a loincloth.

Knight & Day

Oops, he did it again! Tom Cruise messed about with Spanish traditional festivals once more. On this occasion, he and Cameron Díaz attend very peculiar bull runs or encierros and run in front of a herd of eight steers and two placid bulls. In addition, this recreation of the San Fermines of Pamplona was actually filmed on Calle Ancha street in Cadiz, and (due to the script's demands) ended in the Maestranza bull ring in Seville.

Vantage Point

It is often said that Americans think Spain is like any country in Latin America. But in this particular case, the film makers of Vantage Point took this too far. The film shows the U.S. president’s visit to Salamanca, where he will be a terrorist target. The movie supposedly takes place in Salamanca, Spain but when local authorities refused to accept the conditions of the producer (who wanted the city to close access to Plaza Mayor for three months), the shooting moved to Mexico. For anyone who’s ever been to Spain, just by looking at the scenery and the people it’s very obvious that the movie was filmed somewhere else entirely (halfway around the world, in fact!)

If you want to learn more about Spanish and film, we encourage you watch this video with some of the funniest Spanish translations of classic movie titles.

As the song says in Cinema Paradiso, "The life I dream of can come true. Or is it just a dream?” The magic of cinema has transformed some real-world Spanish settings into incredible imaginary worlds. We have seen, for example, how the desert of Almeria became the Wild West; the coast of Cadiz transformed into the exotic beaches of Cuba; and the spectacular Plaza de España in Seville turned into a planet from a galaxy far away.

It is true that many times the reasons have been economic, since it is cheaper to shoot in Spain than in other European or American countries. However, we cannot ignore the fact that Spain’s varied geography, warm climate, fascinating landscapes, and wealth of monuments have turned it into a marvelous movie set containing the perfect conditions for many film makers.

So, let’s get this show on the road!

Enjoy this post in Spanish to improve your reading skills.

1. Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

As mentioned above, the Sevillian Plaza de España is one of those cases. Not only was the square chosen by George Lucas to immortalize Amidala’s arrival to the planet Naboo in The Attack of the Clones, but we can also see it in other blockbusters shot in Seville. Other examples are the famous Game of Thrones series and the comedy The Dictator.

2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

In this case, the chosen place was Almeria. Steven Spielberg and his team shot several scenes of this famous film in the Tabernas desert, on Monsul beach, and also in Almeria’s capital.

3. Mission Impossible II (M:I-2) (2000)

The second part of this famous action saga was also filmed in Seville. This time the focus was on the Andalusian capital’s city center, where Tom Cruise stars in a scene full of cultural inaccuracies. We see an unnatural mixture of Spanish fiestas: Holy Week, Fallas, and the San Fermín festivities all happen in the same scene, when in reality these celebrations happen at different times of the year.

4. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

We must of course mention the most famous examples: the numerous Westerns filmed in Spain. Sergio Leone was one of the great directors who made it possible: A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965) were both filmed in Almeria. In these films, we had the opportunity to see the Tabernas desert turned into the wild American west. Also in Spain, the third part of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) was shot in the valley of the Arlanza river, in Burgos.

5. 007, Die Another Day (2002)

The most popular spy in the United Kingdom has also been to Spain. The breathtaking scene in which we see an impressive Halle Berry coming out of the water in Die Another Day, supposedly in Cuba, was actually filmed on La Caleta Beach, in Cadiz.

The famous 007 has been to Spain on other occasions: In The World Is Not Enough (1999), the filming was based around the world-famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao; in From Russia with Love (1963), the chosen place was Madrid; and, lastly, in Doctor Zhivago, Soria, Salamanca, Segovia, and Madrid appear.

Nevertheless, these are not all the movies ever filmed in Spain. The list is long, and many have been left out. Lawrence of Arabia, The Bourne Ultimatum, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Kingdom of Heaven, Perfume: Story of a Murderer, 55 days in Beijing, and even Kubrick’s Spartacus have also played a role in making Spain a star of the silver screen.

If you want to learn more about Spanish and film, we encourage you watch this video with some of the funniest Spanish translations of classic movie titles.

In today's post, we roll out the red carpet and put on our best outfit to talk about films in Spanish that have won an Academy Award. Set your Spanish homework aside and put your listening skills into action by watching these cultural touchstones.

Did you know that the first Hispanic Academy Award-winning director (from outside the US) earned his statue for a movie that was filmed mostly in French, not Spanish? The Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel had to shoot the 1972 film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (French: Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie) in France due to the censorship in force during the Franco dictatorship. Hence, the Spanish language had to wait until the early 80s.

Enjoy this post in Spanish if you prefer. 

Remember also that the new awards season is beginning, and with it, all the film festivals in Spain... do not miss the best premieres!

Academy Award-winning films in Spanish

1.- Begin the Beguine (Volver a empezar) (Spain, 1982)

Director: José Luis Garci.

Cast: Antonio Ferrandis and Encarna Paso.

Begin the Beguine tells the moving story of a prestigious writer, winner of a Nobel Prize, who returns to Gijón (Asturias, Spain) to die in his hometown after many years of exile.

The movie won the first Oscar for a Spanish-language film in 1983 (Best Non-English Language Film), an international recognition that opened the door for Spanish to make its way into Hollywood.

2.- The Official Story (La historia oficial) (Argentina, 1985)

Director: Luis Puenzo.

Cast: Norma Aleandro, Analía Castro, and Héctor Alterio.

The Official Story (1985) was the first Latin American film to receive the valued statuette (Best Non-English Language Film). It is a cinematographic work that takes us to the last days of the Argentine military dictatorship (1976-1983). In the film, Puenzo depicts a country in crisis after the loss of the Falklands in 1982; a nation going through the final stage of an oppressive regime that led to the “disappearance” of thousands of people.

The plot takes place between the house of Alicia, Roberto, and Gabi (the main characters of this story) and the high school where Alicia teaches Argentine History classes. In this way, the home is linked to the family atmosphere of the time, while the educational center represents the Argentine sociopolitical sphere.

3.- Belle Époque (Spain, 1992).

Director: Fernando Trueba.

Cast: Miriam Díaz Aroca, Penélope Cruz, Ariadna Gil, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Jorge Sanz, and Maribel Verdú.

Although Belle Époque was canceled three times due to lack of budget, the film was finally shot in Portugal to reduce costs. The movie won the Oscar for Best Non-English Language Film in 1993.

According to Trueba himself, Belle Époque represents a "bright and cheerful vision of Spain," “something we were not used to in 1992." It tells the story of a young man named Fernando who arrives in a small Spanish town in 1930, just before the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. After deciding to  leave the army during the Jaca uprising, the handsome soldier is taken in by a widowed artist who has four daughters with very different personalities.

4.- All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) (Spain, 1999)

Director: Pedro Almodóvar.

Cast: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penélope Cruz, Candela Peña, and Rosa María Sardá.

All About My Mother tells the story of Manuela, a mother who, after losing her son the day he turned 17, returns to Barcelona to find the boy's father. During the trip, we enjoy a tragicomedy in the purest style of the Spanish director, suffering the pain along with Manuela.

In the end, Almodóvar received the Oscar (Best Non-English-Speaking Film) from his muse Penelope Cruz, an iconic moment that went down in Spanish film history.

5.- Talk to Her (Hable con ella) (Spain, 2003)

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Cast: Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti Leonor Watling, Geraldine Chaplin, and Rosario Flores.

Four years later, Almodóvar won the Academy Award again, but this time on a larger scale. For the first and only time in history, a Hispanic film won an Oscar under one of the main categories: Best Original Screenplay. The director also broke his own mold with this film by shooting with two male characters, in defiance of those who said that he was only able to direct women.

Talk to her tells the story of two men who fight against loneliness as they care for the women they love: both are in a coma. Benigno is a nurse who has fallen in love with a dancer who is in a coma after an accident. In the meantime, Marcos looks after his girlfriend, who undergoes the same situation after being gored while bullfighting.

6.- The Sea Inside (Mar adentro) (Spain, 2004)

Director: Alejandro Amenábar.

Cast: Javier Bardem, Belén Rueda, and Lola Dueñas.

This movie put on the table the debate on the use of euthanasia and assisted suicide for people with irreversible or terminal illnesses. The Sea Inside tells the real story of Ramón Sampedro, who, after a tragic dive into the sea, remains bedridden for the rest of his life. After three decades in these conditions, claiming his right to die, he succeeds with the assistance of his lawyer and a close friend and neighbor.

Alejandro Amenábar won the Oscar for Best Non-English Language Film in 2005.

7.- The Secret In Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) (Argentina, 2009)

Director: Juan José Campanella.

Cast: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, and Javier Godino.

Benjamín Espósito is an official who used to work at a Criminal Court in Buenos Aires and has just retired. He is obsessed with a crime he witnessed 25 years ago and decides to write a novel about the murder. During the creation process, he also recalls a past and not forgotten love.

This is a thriller with a captivating plot and high technical quality. The Secret In Their Eyes won the Oscar for Best Non-English Language Film in 2010, the second Academy Award for Argentina’s film industry.

8.- A Fantastic Woman (Una mujer fantástica) (Chile, 2017)

Director: Sebastián Lelio.

Cast: Daniela Vega and Francisco Reyes.

A fantastic woman was the second cinematographic work to receive the golden statuette in the history of Chilean cinema, after the animated short film Historia de un oso (2014). It won the Oscar in 2018 in the category of Best Non-English Language Film.

The plot focuses on Marina (a young waitress who wants to be a singer) and her partner, Orlando, twenty years older than her. One day, Marina has to take Orlando to the emergency room, where he dies in her arms. Then, she must face the rejection of Orlando’s social circle due to her transgender identity.

To sum up, Spanish language movies have plenty of reasons to be proud. From Luis Buñuel to Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish speakers started winning the hearts and earning the praise of Hollywood film critics and audiences in the second half of the 20th century and have been reaping success ever since. This year it’s Almodóvar’s turn again…we wish him all the best with his film Pain and Glory (2019), which has been selected by the Spanish Academy as its submission for the international feature film Academy Award. 

If you want to learn more about Spanish and film, we encourage you watch this video with some of the funniest Spanish translations of classic movie titles.