While Money Heist dominated international conversation around Spanish television on Netflix, the streaming platform simultaneously developed deep interest in additional Spanish-language series addressing different genres and themes. Elite, Vis a Vis (Locked Up), Cable Girls, and Sky Rojo represent a broader Spanish television renaissance that demonstrated Netflix’s commitment to Spanish-language content and showcased Spanish creative talent to global audiences. These series, distinct from Money Heist in tone and narrative approach, collectively constitute what might be termed the “Spanish TV boom”—a period of unprecedented investment in Spanish television production and unprecedented international attention to Spanish-language original series.

Money Heist proved the commercial viability of Spanish-language content at global scale. But Netflix’s subsequent Spanish-language productions demonstrate the diversity of Spanish creative tradition—thematically, tonally, and aesthetically. Spanish television encompasses psychological thrillers, institutional dramas, historical narratives, and contemporary social commentary. The global success of multiple Spanish series established Spanish television as major creative force capable of competing with English-language programming for audience attention and critical acclaim.

Elite: Madrid’s Prestigious High School and Class Conflict

“Elite” (2018-2022), Netflix’s high school thriller series, represented a significant shift from Money Heist’s crime narrative toward contemporary social drama. Set at an elite Madrid private school (the fictional Las Encinas), the series explores themes of class conflict, wealth inequality, sexual identity, and institutional corruption among affluent teenagers. While Money Heist’s Professor and crew operated outside institutional structures, Elite’s characters navigate existing power structures—educational institutions, families, social hierarchies—that reproduce inequality and enable abuse.

The series premiered to significant international success, particularly among younger audiences. The combination of contemporary social issues (sexual assault, institutional cover-ups, class discrimination), teen-oriented narrative, and Spanish setting appealed to global audiences while offering specifically Spanish perspective on universal themes. The show’s focus on privileged teenagers navigating contemporary social anxieties resonated across national boundaries.

Elite’s Madrid setting is essential to its narrative. The city’s wealth inequality—with affluent neighborhoods containing elite private institutions alongside working-class areas—provides perfect backdrop for exploring class conflict. The fictional Las Encinas school represents real Madrid institutions (likely inspired by actual private schools) serving wealthy families. The show’s visual style emphasizes Madrid’s contemporary urban landscape—modern architecture, luxury apartments, upscale restaurants—alongside more modest neighborhoods. The contrast visually communicates the class divisions structuring the narrative.

Visiting Information: Elite is set at a fictional school, and the actual filming location has not been extensively publicized to prevent disruption of the school community. However, many of the series’ exterior scenes were filmed in Madrid’s actual neighborhoods, particularly wealthy areas of the city. Visitors interested in Elite locations can explore Madrid’s affluent districts—areas like Salamanca and Chamberí—to experience the neighborhood atmosphere and architecture featured in the series. These neighborhoods contain upscale shopping, restaurants, and parks, making them worthwhile to visit regardless of Elite connections. The series functions as introduction to contemporary Madrid’s urban character and class geography. Elite tourism doesn’t require visiting specific marked locations but rather understanding Madrid’s socioeconomic structure through its geography.

Vis a Vis (Locked Up): Institutional Drama and Marginalized Voices

“Vis a Vis” (2015-2018), retitled “Locked Up” for international Netflix distribution, represents Spanish television’s engagement with institutional narrative and marginalized experience. The series, set in a Spanish women’s prison, follows Macarena, a woman imprisoned for fraud, navigating prison hierarchies, institutional violence, and relationships with other inmates. The series balances dramatic intensity with character depth, refusing to reduce prisoners to stereotypes while acknowledging genuine violence and institutional dysfunction.

Vis a Vis’s prison setting provides framework for exploring themes of institutional power, gender, sexuality, and survival. The series treats its marginalized characters—prisoners, guards, institutional outsiders—with complexity and dignity. Spanish television’s tradition of engaging with social margins (evident in Almodóvar’s films) manifests in Vis a Vis’s sympathetic portrayal of women incarcerated for nonviolent crimes, LGBTQ+ prisoners, and those victimized by institutional abuse.

The series was filmed in Madrid at a decommissioned prison facility, allowing production access to authentic institutional space without requiring extensive set construction. The use of actual prison architecture contributes to the series’ sense of realism and claustrophobia. The prison becomes more than narrative setting; it functions as character structuring the entire dramatic world.

Visiting Information: The actual filming location, a decommissioned Madrid prison facility, is not open for public tours or tourism. However, visitors interested in Vis a Vis can explore Madrid’s institutional landscape—the city contains numerous prisons, courts, and law enforcement facilities that reflect Spanish justice system’s spatial organization. The series functions as introduction to understanding Spanish institutional life and the experiences of those marginalized by legal systems. Like Elite, Vis a Vis offers Madrid-specific perspective on universal themes—institutional violence, class discrimination, survival under constraint.

Cable Girls (Las Chicas del Cable): The Telefónica Building and Labor History

“Cable Girls” (2017-2018), set during the 1920s-1930s in Madrid, tells stories of women working for the Spanish telephone company (Telefónica) during Spain’s transformation into a modern nation. The series combines historical drama with feminist themes, exploring how women navigated limited opportunities, technological transformation, and social constraint during early 20th century Spain.

The series features the iconic Telefónica building—Madrid’s most historically significant art deco structure, located at Gran Vía 28—as central location. The building, completed in 1930, represents Spain’s modernization and embrace of contemporary technology. The series uses the building’s interior spaces (recreated on sets as interiors are private) and distinctive exterior for establishing shots. The Telefónica building’s prominence in the Madrid skyline makes it visually distinctive and historically significant.

The series’ engagement with labor history distinguishes it from other Spanish television productions. Rather than focusing exclusively on crime or personal drama, Cable Girls addresses how ordinary workers—particularly women workers—experienced institutional hierarchy, technological change, and economic transformation. The series locates individual narratives within broader historical frameworks, making personal struggles meaningful through historical context.

Visiting Information: The Telefónica building, located at Gran Vía 28 in central Madrid, is visible from the street and recognizable from Cable Girls. The building is a working office space and not open for public interior tours. However, the exterior is architecturally distinctive and worth viewing. The surrounding Gran Vía area contains shopping, restaurants, and cultural institutions. The building serves as visual landmark for understanding Madrid’s early 20th-century modernization and architectural history. Visitors can photograph the building’s exterior and appreciate its art deco style while exploring the surrounding neighborhood.

Sky Rojo: Contemporary Narrative and Visual Boldness

“Sky Rojo” (2021-2022), created by the showrunner of Money Heist, represents Spanish television’s continued boldness in addressing challenging themes through visually distinctive approaches. The series follows three women escaping an abusive club owner, narratively shifting between escape sequences and backstories exploring how they became entangled in exploitation. The series combines thriller pacing with intimate character development and social critique.

Sky Rojo employs visual techniques—stylized cinematography, color saturation, rapid editing—that distinguish it from conventional television narrative. The series’ visual boldness reflects Spanish television’s willingness to experiment with form and aesthetic, not constraining itself to established television conventions. The series was filmed in Madrid and surrounding areas, utilizing urban and rural locations.

Visiting Information: Like other Spanish television productions, Sky Rojo’s specific filming locations have not been extensively publicized as tourist sites. However, the series’ various Madrid and regional Spanish locations provide introduction to different Spanish landscapes and urban environments. Viewers interested in the series can explore Madrid’s diverse neighborhoods and surrounding regions to experience locations featured in the narrative.

The Spanish Television Ecosystem: Production Infrastructure and Creative Talent

Spanish television’s renaissance reflects investment in production infrastructure, development of creative talent, and recognition that Spanish audiences and Spanish stories possess global appeal. Spanish production companies—including Atresmedia, Grupo Audiovisual Español, and independent producers—developed capacity to manage large-scale television production. Spanish writers, directors, and producers gained international recognition and opportunities to work on major platforms.

Netflix’s investment in Spanish content created virtuous cycle: success of initial series encouraged additional investment, attracting further creative talent and production resources. The platform’s commitment to Spanish-language original programming elevated Spanish television within global entertainment hierarchy. Rather than Spanish content being niche or regional offering, it became mainstream global programming competing for audience attention alongside English-language content.

This transformation had ripple effects throughout Spanish media. Spanish universities and film schools experienced increased interest in television production training. Spanish actors gained international opportunities and expanded career possibilities. Spanish production companies developed capacity and expertise enabling them to compete for international projects. The cultural validation of Spanish television—recognition that Spanish stories matter globally—contributed to Spanish cultural confidence and international presence.

Themes Across Spanish Television

While individual Spanish series address different narratives and genres, certain themes recur across productions. Several address institutional critique—examining how educational systems, criminal justice systems, and corporate structures reproduce inequality and enable abuse. Multiple series engage with gender and sexuality, portraying LGBTQ+ characters and exploring gendered violence with sophistication. Several address class conflict and economic inequality directly. Many feature ensemble casts prioritizing multiple characters’ perspectives rather than single protagonists.

These thematic preoccupations reflect Spanish culture’s engagement with social critique. Spanish cinema and television have long tradition of addressing social margins, institutional dysfunction, and inequality. The success of these themes in Spanish television demonstrates that global audiences resonate with social critique when presented through compelling narrative and character development.

Tourism and the Spanish Television Phenomenon

The success of Spanish television on Netflix has generated tourism interest in featured locations. While Madrid is the primary setting for multiple series, tourism specifically focused on Spanish television locations remains less organized than Game of Thrones or Money Heist tourism. However, interest exists, and various tours now include references to Spanish television locations alongside broader Madrid tourism.

For visitors, Spanish television offers introduction to contemporary Madrid—its neighborhoods, architecture, institutions, and social dynamics. Rather than focusing on historical monuments or tourist attractions, Spanish television depicts everyday Madrid, working-class and affluent areas, institutional spaces, and contemporary social reality. This provides different perspective on the city than traditional tourism allows.

Creating Your Own Spanish Television Experience

For viewers interested in Spanish television beyond Money Heist, Madrid serves as primary destination. The city offers engagement with contemporary urban Spanish culture—neighborhoods featured in Elite, institutional spaces depicted in Vis a Vis, historical sites significant to Cable Girls. The combination of television locations with broader Madrid tourism provides comprehensive city experience.

An ideal approach combines specific television connections with broader cultural engagement. You might visit the Telefónica building (featured in Cable Girls) while exploring Gran Vía and its architectural history. You might experience Madrid’s neighborhoods and class geography while thinking about themes Elite addresses. You might engage with Spanish institutional history while understanding how Vis a Vis portrays these institutions.

The Global Significance of Spanish Television

Spanish television’s international success has altered how global entertainment industry perceives non-English language content. The simultaneous success of Money Heist, Elite, Vis a Vis, and other Spanish series demonstrated that Spanish creative tradition could achieve mainstream global audiences. This validation encouraged streaming platforms and networks worldwide to invest in diverse language content. Spanish television essentially provided proof-of-concept that global audiences would embrace non-English programming if quality and storytelling justified investment.

The Spanish television boom also demonstrated that language need not be barrier to global success. Audiences proved willing to read subtitles and engage with Spanish language, Spanish culture, and Spanish social contexts. This validation of Spanish language and culture on global platforms contributed to Spanish cultural confidence and international presence.

For visitors to Spain, the success of Spanish television offers entry points for understanding contemporary Spanish culture. Whether beginning with specific television series or discovering television connections while exploring Spain, the shows provide introduction to Spanish urban life, social dynamics, institutional structures, and cultural preoccupations. The key, as with film tourism more broadly, is moving from television-specific tourism toward genuine engagement with Spanish society, culture, and history.