The boost to production driven by pay-TV operators and streaming platforms keeps the boom in the production of fiction series in Spain at an all-time high, including projects with increasingly global ambitions.

If during the first half of 2022, Telefónica's Movistar Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix were the operators that premiered the most Spanish fiction - six each - in our market, their appetite for Spanish content remains intact for the second half of the year.

New releases continue at a steady pace, as do the high expectations that their arrival generates among both users and within the industry. Movistar has two great assets.

On the one hand, the omnibus series Apagón, which the operator will launch on its platform on September 29, six days after the world premiere, which will take place within the framework of the San Sebastian International Film Festival where the five episodes will be screened.

"Apagón" is produced by Buendía Estudios, a joint venture between Movistar Plus and Atresmedia, which has become the production company with the most fiction titles in the first half of the year in Spain, with four series, including La Unidad T2 (Movistar Plus) and Heridas (Atresmedia).

In Apagón, Buendía and Movistar have brought together some of the best directors and screenwriters in Spanish fiction: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Raúl Arévalo, Isa Campo, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Isabel Peña, Alberto Marini, Rafael Cobos and Fran Araújo, who have spent more than five months filming at more than a dozen locations to bring this ambitious project to fruition.

El Immortal: Movistar, Telemundo and DLO

In addition, on October 27, the long-awaited crime drama El Inmortal will hit Movistar Plus. Starring Álex García, the series is set in Madrid in the 90s, with all the excesses, endless nights and techno music of that time.

Created by José Manuel Lorenzo, "El Inmortal" is a Movistar Plus production in association with Telemundo Streaming Studios and in collaboration with DLO Producciones. The 8-episode, 50-minute series will be distributed internationally by Beta Film.

The next Spanish premiere on Netflix will be the supernatural thriller Alma, which will be released on 19 August. Created by Sergio G. Sánchez (El secreto de Marrowbone) and directed by him together with Kike Maíllo (Eva), Alma is a production by Sospecha Films, a company created by three successful Spanish producers: Belén Atienza (Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom, The Secret of Marrowbone), Sandra Hermida (Arde Madrid, The Secret of Marrowbone) and Jesús de la Vega (Intruders, Hierro).

Alma is Sospecha Films' second project for Netflix after the series El inocente, created by Oriol Paulo.

Prime Vídeo, leader in fiction hours

Prime Video was the platform that produced the most hours of fiction (41) in Spain in the first half of 2022, followed by Netflix (35) and Movistar Plus (29), according to a report by the consultancy firm GECA.

Among Prime Vídeo's most outstanding series during the first half of the year were the Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group productionsDesaparecidos T2 and Madres T4, as well as Días mejores, produced by ViacomCBS International Studios and Zeta Studios.

On September 16, Prime Video will launch the Amazon Original series Un asunto privado, a Bambú production starring Jean Reno and Aura Garrido.

The series is set in Vigo at the end of the 1940s. Here, there is a series of murders, and an intrepid socialite sets out to catch the serial killer with the help of her faithful butler.

Created by Teresa Fernández Valdés, Ramón Campos and Gema R. Neira, the eight-episode series combines drama, comedy, romance and action, and will be available through Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries.

The eight-episode Amazon Original series Sin huellas, described by Prime Video as a "paella western" that mixes humor and action, together with other ingredients, has been announced for this year, but there is as yet no official premiere date.

Produced by Zeta Studios, Sin huellas” stars Goya Award-winning Spanish actress Carolina Yuste (Carmen y Lola, Hasta el cielo) and Mexican actress Camila Sodi (Luis Miguel: La serie).

Pobre Diablo: Animation for adults

In the remainder of the year we will also have the opportunity to enjoy the premiere of Pobre Diablo, the first HBO Max animated series for adults in Spain. It has been produced by Buendía Estudios, and the animation work for the eight episodes has been carried out by the Granada studio Rockyn Animation.

This year, HBO Max also plans to launch its new original series García!, based on the graphic novel by Santiago García and Luis Bustos, published by Astiberri Ediciones.

A Zeta Studios production for WarnerMedia in Spain, García!” was created and written by Sara Antuña and Carlos de Pando.

The series of six one-hour episodes has Eugenio Mira (Grand Piano) as director, and stars Francisco Ortiz, Veki Velilla, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba and Francisco Reyes.

During 2022, the Atresmedia group has continued to commit to Spanish fiction, with premieres such as Heridas, Señor, dame paciencia and La edad de la ira, which add up to a total of 21 hours of content on its AtresPlayer Premium platform.

With the premiere scheduled for the primetime slot on Antena 3, the group's main free-to-air TV channel, the series Cristo y Rey” includes ingredients that could make it one of the best commercial bets of the season.

Created by Daniel Écija, Cristo y Rey will revisit, four decades later, the relationship between popular lion tamer Ángel Cristo and actress and muse of the "destape" Bárbara Rey.

Jaime Lorente (La Casa de Papel, El Cid) and Belén Cuesta (La Casa de Papel, Paquita Salas) star in the series.

Cristo y Rey is a production by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Good Mood (Écija), and it will also be available on AtresPlayer Premium.