The best thing about being driven indoors by Mexico’s hottest months is the chance, indeed necessity, to binge on Spanish-language series on Netflix. For a language student, being able to watch a great movie while absorbing elusive sentence structure is absolute nirvana, almost too good to be true. Even if you don’t want to learn Spanish, the quality of many series makes them well worth the watch. Some are dubbed in English as well as subtitled in English.

Given I live and love in Mexico, I’d love to say my favorite Spanish-language series were Mexican, I cannot. The best ones are mostly from Spain. The Spanish government and production companies have come to the realization that Spanish history has much to engage the modern viewer. That is to say enough sex, violence, and corruption for everyone.

Many critics have written that Spanish productions are among the best. Perhaps the higher quality of movies and series from Spain as compared to Latin and South America is due to Spanish cinema being heavily subsidized by the Spanish government. Only a small percentage of production costs are paid through ticket sales. Backing by the government gives production companies the financial means to co-produce movies with Hollywood and Netflix. Spain has always required that a certain percentage of movies shown in theaters be native productions.

As a Spanish student, you might find movies in European Spanish easier to understand than their Latin or South American counterparts. Even my Spanish friends have to use subtitles when listening to Mexican movies (Or they could just be saying that to make me feel better.)

Casa del Papel (Money Heist)

When it came out, this was the most popular foreign language series on Netflix and by 2022 it remains one of Netflix’ biggest shows of all time. The inner-workings of the heist is narrated by a female protagonist and former assassin recruited to the crew. In a scene reminiscent of the movie Heat the robbers wear Salvador Dali masks and take over the Royal Mint. The group's leader controls the team from the outside. Online, the series is mistakenly called a comedy-drama. The only time you laugh is when the thieves win. The crew’s party song, Bella Ciao plays in my head to this day. (English subtitles available)

Vivir Sin Permiso (Unauthorized Living)

This fast-moving series hooked me at Casa de Papel levels. Likely the most refined drug lord you’ll ever see, Nemo Bandeira (José Coronado) learns he has Alzheimer’s and has much to process in the time he has left: guilt over the past murder of his childhood best friend, a great abandoned love that haunts him, secretly-adoring adult children wounded by his ambition, and a totally tasteless Mexican cartel intending to sully his legacy as a locally well-regarded Galician don. Lots of plot twists and characters that will cycle through the gamut of your affections. Great character-acting on the part Bandeira’s emotional right hand man Ferro (Luis Zahera). Rotten Apples score: 100%!

You Can’t Hide (no te puedes esconder)

Part of the fun of watching a foreign show is picking up subliminal cultural information about the country. Many Spanish-language series plots move the action between Mexico and Spain, forever cross-pollinating the enduring love/hate relationship that still exists between the countries. 

This series is Mexican but largely filmed in Spain with Spanish actors. Its tone is Spanish as well (after awhile you just feel it). The story line follows a nurse, Mónica, trying to recover her kidnapped daughter, assisted by the man who was initially hired to kill her. 

Its twists, side-plots and perfectly calibrated suspense warranted a nightly appointment with the series and I hereby elect Ivan Sanchez, who plays Mónica’s photographer boyfriend, as the next James Bond. Sanchez ultimately steals the show, off-setting the predictable part of the plot’s resolution  with a dusting of 007. 

Minions of Midas

A CEO receives an extortion letter from a group calling themselves the Minions of Midas telling him that a random person would be killed if he doesn’t divest himself of 50 million euros of stock in his company, and plays it out right in front of him until they’re believed. This series, set against a background underlining the growing economic inequality in developed countries, is actually based on a 120 year-old Jack London short story. Víctor Genovés (Luis Tosar) plays the brooding, mysterious lead. Lots of twists and only six episodes.

Reina del Sur (Queen of the South)

Before you discount it, Reina del Sur is most successful telenovela in Telemundo’s history (and my guilty pleasure my entire first year in Mexico). The Spanish was too fast to understand great swaths of it and I still got hooked. The series is based on a Spanish best-seller by same name, written by Arturo Perez-Reverte, a former war correspondent. It features characters with all kinds of Spanish accents for the language student, (including Russians speaking Spanish which totally tickled me for some reason). Teresa Mendoza is unquestionably Kate Del Castillo’s best role.

Apaches

This drama reminded me of a less edgy “Hell or High Water” or Ben Affleck’s “The Town.” Childhood friends/brothers from the barrio watch each other's back against mafiosa and con artists regardless of the consequences. The series takes a few episodes to set up. Once it does you get plenty of satisfaction watching the main character evolve into a greatly-improved partner in crime. Alberto Ammann, the lead, might remind you of Edward Norton. (English subtitles)

La Catedral del Mar (Cathedral by the Sea)

Based on a book by the same name, the series deals with Spain in the 1300’s, the Middle Ages, and Barcelona specifically during that time. It’s dripping with drama, gore, sex and finally, Catholicism.

The brutality of life, particularly for women, is graphically conveyed, as is the corruption and demonical nature of the Catholic Church, juxta positioned against the piety of the population (this period was the ramp up for the Spanish Inquisition). (English audio and subtitles available)

If you make trips to Europe and visit its great cathedrals, you will never look at them the same way after seeing this series, which may be exactly what Spain wants from their investment. (The “Game of Thrones effect” caused Iceland’s tourism to jump from approximately 566,000 visitors in 2011 to over 1 million visitors in 2015.)

If you are a fan of richly costumed period-dramas like Bridgerton (I’m not) or are a Spanish history aficionado (I am), you might like The cocinera de Castamar (The Cook of Castamar). Set during the post-war of Succession of Madrid (around 1720), the series centers around several stories of forbidden love, especially that between a duke and the chef of his estate.

Las Chicas del Cable (Cable Girls)

Some list Chicas del Cable among the period dramas, but it’s really a glossy, caffeinated telenovela, complete with duplicitous twins, love triangles and kidnapped babies. The protagonists are among Spain’s first wave of feminists. Wardrobing, sets and overall bodaciousness of the characters transcends the genre. The sexy soundtrack on this series is available on Spotify. (English audio and subtitles available] Review

[If you want a complete, hilarious primer on the ingredients of a telenovela, just watch “Jane the Virgin,” a parody of the genre. “Jane the Virgin” even has a little Spanish for the beginner - the grandmother only speaks Spanish in the series. (The ending comes as quite a shock.]

Paquita Salas

For Spanish students, comedies are probably the most frustrating, the final frontier. Humor doesn’t always translate across cultures. Paquita Salas is an exception. Seeing overweight Brays Efe (a dude) cast in as a struggling female talent scout in itself is funny enough. The series was a surprise hit in Spain. It’s got a lot of heart and offers an enjoyable view into Spanish pop culture. (English subtitles) Review

Mar de Plastico (Plastic Sea)

With so many excellent series these days, one key reason to invest the additional effort in a foreign movie and subtitles is to learn about another culture and a few of the social issues that aren’t ours alone.

Thousands of Africans have flooded into Spain on their way to points north. The resulting xenophobia makes for many suspects in this murder mystery series. You also get to see the unusual stark beauty of Andalusian countryside.

Crematorium

When this series came out in 2011 in Spain, it was heralded as a turning point, a production that Spain could be proud of before an international audience. The main character, an urban real estate developer in southern Spain seeks to realize his vision no matter who he has to partner with to do so. Similar to what happened in Florida, corruption in developing Spain’s southern coast was rampant. The production methods are a bit dated but it’s a good story if you’re ready to ditch the subtitle training wheels (Spanish audio and subtitles only).

Many of the Spanish series you see on Netflix appeared on Spanish television first. You might have to play with the website a bit, but I viewed several of them on RTVE.com, a Spanish website, several years before they came out on Netflix. My favorites among those not yet on Netflix are Estoy Vivo, a supernatural crime series, and Isabel, a historical drama about Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragón (I hope we see this series on Netflix someday).

How to use movies in your Spanish studies

If you are learning another language and are using movies in your learning, you should know that studies have shown that the most effective method is to have both the audio and the subtitles in the language you are trying to learn, even if that means not catching every word, rather than having the subtitles in English.

Shows and subtitles in Spanish help with hearing advanced grammar structure like past subjunctive mood. Open your browser to Spanishdict.com while you stream the movie, to be able to pause and to look up a word quickly if it keeps coming up. Try Quizlet, a free flashcard site to make quick flashcards of the phrases or words you know you’ll need some day. (You should also write vocabulary by hand, as it facilitates learning according to experts.)

Series not just for Spanish students

Even if you’re not learning a second language, don’t limit yourself to English-speaking movies, sets, and perspectives. Netflix doesn’t, and sends all the right signals that their curation of foreign language films will only get better.

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About the author:

Kerry Baker is a partner with Ventanas Mexico and the author of three books.

Her second book is If Only I Had a Place, is a guide to renting luxuriously in Mexico for less. More than how to rent (although it certainly covers that), this book is gives you the infrastructure for the most holistic and enriching of expat experiences.

Her third is The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico. This book will give you a step by step plan for having the best of both worlds, along with insights into what to expect from the culture. Most recently she co-authored a cookbook, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico for travelers, expats and snowbirds trying to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico.