''Hermanos'' is a Spanish drama television series. Produced by

Mediaset España Mediaset España (), full name Mediaset España Comunicación, S.A., is a Spanish media company, controlled by the Italian company MFE - MediaForEurope. Its divisions include the generalist free-to-air TV channels Telecinco and Cuatro, thematic ch ...

in collaboration with Multipark Ficción, the 6-episode series aired on

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially launc ...

from September to October 2014. Starring

Antonio Velázquez Antonio Velázquez Bautista (born 1981) is a Spanish actor. Biography Antonio Velázquez Bautista was born in 1981 in Granada. He was raised in the small village of , spending most of his childhood in the 'Venta de la Cebada' ''cortijo''. He ...

Álvaro Cervantes Álvaro Cervantes Sorribas (born 12 September 1989) is a Spanish actor. Life and career Álvaro Cervantes Sorribas was born in Barcelona on 12 September 1989. His younger sister Ángela has also pursued an acting career. Cervantes made a name ...

and

María Valverde María Valverde Rodríguez (born 24 March 1987) is a Spanish actress. Career At age 16, Valverde had a major role in ''The Weakness of the Bolshevik'', for which she won Best New Actress at the 18th Goya Awards. Her other films include '' Me ...

, the series—a generational story set in the 1980s and the 1990s— tracks the lives of three

childhood friend Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept of ...

Plot

Starting in the mid 1980s in a working-class neighborhood of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, two brothers—Juan (

) and Alberto (

)—are in love with the same girl, their friend Virginia (

). Life takes each character to a singular path: the older brother, the brash Juan, puts aside his childhood dream of becoming a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and leaves Madrid for the shipyards of

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, becoming a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader. Meanwhile, Alberto becomes a priced businessman, whereas Virginia attains her childhood goal of becoming a renowned journalist, entering the elite cultural circles, while also becoming a mother. The friendship story (and

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

) between the three characters intertwines with historical events such as the

deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpre ...

policies undertaken in Spain, the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, the rise of

trade unionism A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

or the so-called '' Movida madrileña''.

Cast

Production and release

The series was entirely shot in

(and the wider Madrid region),

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

and

(primarily location shots of the port and the shipyards). A substantial part of the urban outdoor scenes portraying Madrid were shot in the residential area of Fuerte de San Francisco in Guadalajara, whose architecture preserves the aesthetics of the 1980s. Guadalajara also served as set to recreate the shipyards of Vigo as well as the city of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

Salvador Calvo Salvador Calvo (born 1970) is a Spanish film and television director. Biography Calvo was born 1970 in Madrid. He earned a licentiate degree in Information Sciences (Journalism) from the Complutense University of Madrid. Instead of focusing on ...

directed episodes 1, 2, 5 and 6, while Joaquín Llamas directed episodes 3 and 4. The miniseries premiered on 16 September 2014 on Telecinco. Broadcast every Tuesday night in

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

, the last episode aired on 21 October 2014. Starting with "promising" audience scores in the opening episode (2,615,000 viewers; 15.9% share) the series attracted a relatively stable audience during the first 5 episodes. However, the viewership took a substantial dip in the finale, down to a 9.1% share, challenged by the nudist reality show aired on the sister channel

Cuatro Cuatro is Spanish language, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4 (number), number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see cuatro (Puerto Rico), ...

and the return of ''Velvet'' on Antena 3.

Accolades

References

{{authority control Television series about brothers Works about friendship Television series set in the 1980s Television series set in the 1990s Television shows set in Madrid Television shows set in Galicia (Spain) Television shows filmed in Spain 2014 Spanish television series debuts 2014 Spanish television series endings Spanish television miniseries 2010s Spanish drama television series Telecinco network series Television shows set in Sarajevo