Valeria and Víctor, one morning on the Gran Vía.
With more than a million books sold, the literary saga Valeria, written by Elisabet Benavent, It seemed like a guaranteed success in its jump to the screen. And so it has been, valeria series, premiered last week on Netflix, it has entered directly into the top 10 of the most watched on the platform. The story of this aspiring writer and her friends already had a good pull of admirers and, nevertheless, It has been something else that has completed the success these days: her Madrid.
Pere Capotillo, location manager for the series, confirms it: “I have never had so much feedback in a job and I think it has to do with the situation in which we are living: there is a lot of nostalgia to see Madrid like this”.
Valeria in Frida, her office.
As happens so many other times, Madrid is one more character in Valeria. But it is true that, on this occasion, he is a character very protagonist, that she takes advantage of each shot to look pretty, absorb the best light from her, show her best face.
It is a Madrid that today, moreover, does arouse nostalgia in us. The city in summer, an early or late summer, because it is not very hot yet, a summer full of terraces, of walks aimlessly and without time, without limits. With open parks to contemplate the best sunsets, as in the Temple of Debod, one of the most romantic locations in the series. Or the Parque del Oeste, which Capotillo walked from top to bottom, to discover corners that look like the Retiro.
The Temple of Debod, a romantic setting.
It is also a Madrid in parties, those of La Paloma, with their handkerchiefs hanging between balconies, their fair, their minis, their chicken and squid sandwiches, their verbena. In the Plaza de la Cruz Verde, under the Segovia Viaduct, Capotillo found the perfect location to recreate the August festivities. and in front of Bodegas the Maximum, a very traditional corner to continue partying.
DISTRICT CENTER
Although exact addresses are not given in the books, a central Madrid is recognised. In the passage to the scripts, they further specified the streets and the environment they wanted to see on screen: Gran Vía, Precious… Between the reading of the two, Pere Capotillo "felt the atmosphere" and launched himself into the streets of Madrid, turning them into his office for weeks, in which he walked an average of 15 kilometers a day to find the exact locations that responded to the city that they wanted to show and also solve logistical issues (avoid paperwork and permits, avoid transfers...).
Bodegas Lo Máximo and La Paloma.
Valeria (Diana Gómez) lives on Calle San Gregorio in front of frida, a cafe and restaurant that are shown exactly as they are on the screen, because it fulfilled the aesthetic and logistical needs. She is the good thing about the series she teaches a real Madrid. She doesn't change the names of the bars, she doesn't hide their real sets (only the interiors of the apartments are set and with those dimensions they seem more like science fiction).
Lola (Silma López) lives in an almost loft apartment in Plaza de las Salesas. That is, very close to Valeria. "And all those streets, that Chueca between Frida and Las Salesas is the one that friends walk through," says Capotillo.
Carmen (Paula Malia) She doesn't have a specific address because, precisely, part of her story this season is finding a flat. "It she searches near the Gran Vía, by Malasaña, to be close to her office, ”continues Valeria's location manager. Carmen's office, in fact, is one of the settings for which she has been asked the most: those views. ** "It's a 13th floor of a building on Gran Vía", ** she answers. "An open room that was later dressed by the art team."
Valeria in the Plaza de los Carros
In addition, Valeria, a great walker in Madrid, is lost by La Latina. She sits at the fountain the Chariot Square, she consoles herself with her friends and some beers in the roof terrace of El Viajero. Lola, on the other hand, walks around a more stately Madrid, more Austria, through the Plaza de Oriente, the Opera, the Royal Theater. And she also steps, along with Carmen and Nerea (Teresa Riott), Chamberi, the unmistakable Plaza de Olavide.
The four friends are very fond of bars, of bars that we also like: like El Viajero, like night club, What Lucky Dragon (where Valeria and Víctor –Maxi Iglesias– meet for the first time), such as the terrace of Crown House or, opposite, the clandestine house of Sweden. Romantic and cultural plans are sought where we seek them, as in X room. And they eat where we would now eat, as in Flavia.
A 'Brief meeting' in the Sala Equis.
Only that museum in which Valeria tries to earn some money while she gets inspiration is not in Madrid: “We faked the exterior a bit in front of the Four Towers and the interior is a convention center in Ávila”, confesses Pere Capotillo.
But that vision shared by the protagonist on her first date with Adrián (Ibrahim Al Shami), “that postcard from Madrid”, is real: “A small hill in Las Tablas, near the M30, almost reaching the A1”, he says, which is the most difficult location to find.
And the good thing, says Capotillo, is that if there is a second season they still have many locations, many corners of Madrid already noted to keep reminding us how beautiful the city is.
Chin chín in El Viajero.