**UPDATED IN 2023

Today, we are going to focus on Netflix movies that take place in Spain. They will help you learn Spanish in a fun way. Indeed, movies are a great way to get to know more about the culture and history of a country. Moreover, you might even pick up some local slang. Here are my top picks in each category:

DRAMA / THRILLER

1. Volver. Two sisters greatly miss their mother, who died in a fire. One day, the mother shows up at Sole’s house and then at Raimunda’s.
2. A cambio de nada. Darío’s parents, a sixteen-year-old boy, separate and he decides to run away from home. Luismi, Caralimpia and Antonia become his new family during a summer that will change his life forever.
3. La isla mínima. In a small town on the Guadalquivir marshes, two teenage girls disappear during the fiestas.
4. Quién te cantará. Lila has been retired from the stage for years, but she is determined to recover her career as a singer. With the help of Violeta, an unknown imitator, she will try to return to what she was.
5. Contratiempo. The life of the successful businessman Adrián Doria becomes a nightmare when one morning he wakes up in a hotel room next to the corpse of his lover.

COMEDY

1. Diecisiete. Héctor is a 17-year-old boy who has been in a juvenile detention center for two years. He barely relates to anyone until he decides to participate in therapy with dogs.
2. Toc toc. A group of patients who suffer from OCD meet in the waiting room of a great psychologist’s office. The doctor is late, so they will have to wait together trying to keep their manias, impulses, obsessions and rituals at bay.
3. Ocho apellidos vascos, a great movie to gain perspective on the cultural differences among Spaniards.
4. Gente que viene y bah, a story that portrays the importance of Spanish family ties.
5. Señor dame paciencia, a great way to understand the tensions between different generations in a family.
6. Perdiendo el norte Hugo and Braulio are fed up of finding neither a job nor a future in Spain, so they decide to move to Germany after watching a television program. But when they arrive they discover that things are not as easy as they seemed.
7. Ahora o nunca. Eva and Alex decide to get married in the small town in the English countryside where they met. However, they encounter an unexpected problem: a controller strike prevents Alex and his guests from reaching Eva.
8. Primos. Diego has been stood up by his girlfriend. He then has four options to get over it: show up at the church on the wedding day in case she regrets it; get drunk and rant; try to recover his teenage love, or all of them at the same time
9. Amor de madre. José Luis has just been left standing at the altar, and Mari Carmen, his mother, has insisted on accompanying him to the honeymoon so as not to lose money.
10. Si yo fuera rico. Santi is a struggling young man who becomes incredibly rich overnight. But Santi will not be able to tell his friends nor his girlfriend about the situation…

HISTORIC

1. Los últimos de Filipinas. In 1898, a Spanish detachment resisted for 337 days under siege by Filipino revolutionaries. In addition to the enemy, malaria and uncertainty undermine the morale of the troops.
2. Palmeras en la nieve. The discovery of a long-forgotten letter pushes Clarence to travel to Bioko to visit the land where his father Jacobo and his uncle Kilian spent most of their youth, the island of Fernando Poo.
3. El hombre de las mil caras. The ex-secret agent of the Spanish Government Francisco Paesa, responsible for an operation against ETA during the GAL, finds himself involved in an extortion scheme and has to flee the country.
4. Elisa y Marcela. In 1885, Elisa and Marcela meet at the school where they work. What begins as a great friendship ends in a loving relationship that they have to live in secret
5. Handia. In 1843, Martín returns home after having fought in the First Carlist War. He then discovers to his surprise that his little brother, Joaquín, is much taller than normal.

Have you seen any of them? Comment below and don’t forget to check out Facebook and Instagram for more on the topic!