Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, alongside Mediacrest and Mediacrest El Clásico AIE, will tease the highly anticipated Spanish police procedural “Internal Affairs” (“Asuntos Internos”) at Berlinale’s Series Market Select showcase Spanish Thrillers, organized by Iberseries & Platino Industria.
The buzz title, created by Pedro García Ríos and Rodrigo Martín Antoranz, follows Clara (Laia Manzanares, “Estoy vivo”), among the first female detectives in Spain, after she’s accepted to a seedy Madrid precinct just as a heroin becomes readily available in Spain.
A fresh-faced and naive young new hire, her empathy and moral compass fast prove a detriment as she navigates the tough demeanor of her male peers with her unquenchable thirst for a justice predicated on equity, a fair shake.
Directed by María Togores (“Entre tierras”) and Samantha López Speranza (“No Traces”), the series jolts to an adrenaline-filled start as Clara lies breathless in the back of an ambulance-being rushed to the hospital after being attacked.
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The first of six episodes goes on to unravel her initial days on the job and set-up those who’ll play vital roles in her journey toward busting an sinister drug ring that touches the lives of the working class and the elite-without prejudice.
Along multiple storylines the scenes introduce Ana (Silvia Abascal, “La dama boba”), a tough-as-nails matriarch whose rebellious daughter Gema (Carla Campra, “Holy Family”) gets ensnared in campus activism, a budding romance and the drugs that inhabit the scene.
Their dutiful housekeeper Berta (Marta Poveda, “El comisario”) is also a case study in gentle power, a tempered and watchful employee, she’s wife to a taxi driver who dabbles in gambling to make ends meet for the pair. The cast also features Luis Callejo (“Apagón”), Nacho Fresneda (“The Ministry of Time”) and Miki Esparbé (“Out of Sync”) as Clara’s reluctant colleagues.
Crediting the creators for delivering on a thrilling and fleshed-out script, Togores asserts that each character gets equal billing, leading the plots to organically converge – adding layers to the unique drama.
“The creators really did a good job managing the script and also recreating the story, how it was in Spain at that time,” she remarked. “That first episode, all of the turning points were very well written – how we had to travel through history, and at the same time it had wonderful context and the characters were a gift. From the start, we were all very involved in the story because we really liked the script.”
A narrative that centers the views and voices of the strong female leads at its core, it follows the era that inspired it and proves that women’s histories are as enthralling, vital and relatable as those of their male counterparts.
“This story wasn’t designed to force a female lead – it naturally called for one. It reflects a real historical moment in Spain, as well as in many other countries, when women were stepping into traditionally male-dominated spaces like law enforcement,” Cristian Liarte, managing director of business, co-production and acquisitions at Mediacrest, told Variety.
“Clara’s perspective brings something fresh to the genre: the first generation of policewomen in Spain, the first wave of heroin trafficking and a world that’s changing at a relentless pace. She embodies that pioneering spirit – stepping into a new world, facing both external and internal conflicts. She brings innocence, but also conviction and determination– she’s not just part of the system; she’s actively shaping it.”
“We’re very happy to have told the story of that transition through the point of view of women and how they sustained a society that only men ever told us about,” Togores added.
“We were emerging from a dictatorship and suddenly women who’d been subjugated up to that moment were promised a new space, but in reality it wasn’t given to them. What we wanted to show is how each of them, through their individuality, social positions, had to fight to claim that space. It’s a story of each of them surviving in order to get ahead but, on the other hand, it’s a beautiful story of sisterhood.”
The decade is lushly integrated into the storyline, a soft focus and sepia tones bring an air of nostalgia to the fore as the sets and cast recreate the trappings of a gritty Madrid, 1979.
“We didn’t want to limit ourselves to a pure recreation of the period, we wanted to stylize it a little, reinterpret it a little,” Togores explained.
The cast, several too young to remember the events first-hand, prepared for their roles by working in tandem with the directors to embody the tumultuous cultural shift. Togores pointed to renowned Spanish photographer Alberto García-Alix, who captured raw and unapologetic portraits of the country’s counterculture, as a source of inspiration – his work providing a visceral context for the underworld they wanted to model. Additionally nodding to a book from Raquel Heredia titled La agenda de los amigos muertos, that relays the painstaking and intimate account of a mother who loses her daughter to a heroin overdose.
“Internal Affairs” marks the first fiction project for Mediacrest, the company about to begin shooting two feature films and gearing up for four more projects in 2025 as part of its new international service area – sure to position them favorably in the global market, according to Liarte. “From the beginning, Mediacrest has stood for two things: quality and efficiency. This series proves that we have an exceptional team capable of delivering fiction on a par with the biggest players in the industry.”
“We didn’t just step into fiction– we did it with a project that has weight, ambition and a strong creative vision,” he exclaimed. “Above all, this is a gripping police thriller with high emotional stakes and dramatic depth. It’s not just about solving a crime – it’s about characters navigating extreme personal and societal changes. The tension isn’t only in the investigation but also in the human conflicts that drive the story.”