New spy series featuring scenes shot on Costa del Sol is released on major streaming platform

It was an enigmatic shoot. A few scenes in Benajarafe, but with a motorbike chase included. During filming, SUR spotted the US/Spanish actor Ken Appledorn - known for 'Arde Madrid' (Madrid Burns) - on set and it transpired that it was a Movistar+ series being filmed, but the plot and title of the production were being kept secret during the shoot. It is almost as though the film crew were part of the actual espionage plot itself since, with its premiere, it has now been revealed that this is a spy thriller. Titled 'El Centro' (The Centre), it tells a story set in the headquarters of Spanish intelligence, the CNI. Starring the phlegmatic and astute Juan Diego Botto, this series of modern-day undercover agents and moles is the platform's main Spanish fiction bet for its October schedule.

In contrast to so many films and series about the CIA and MI6, this new title delves into Spain's much less-known National Intelligence Centre (CNI) to show how this institution works today, albeit with a Cold War twist, as the enemies are Putin-era Russians. The plot begins with a murder that uncovers an international operation by Russian intelligence services, while also revealing the existence of a traitor within the CNI 'house' itself.

Following this double trail of intrigues is the perfectionist spy Michelin (Botto), so nicknamed for his exquisite taste and nose for cooking as well as for uncovering conspiracies. He is accompanied by his team of agents, which include Elena Martín Gimeno ('Creatura'), Israel Elejalde ('Madres Paralelas'), Elisabet Casanovas ('Las Abogadas'), Clara Segura ('El 47' [The 47]), David Lorente ('No me Gusta Conducir'), Nacho Sánchez ('Mantícora') and the villain of the series played by Tristán Ulloa ('La Monja Guerrera').

Set in Madrid, the Dominican Republic, Belgium and the United States, this well-travelled plot - like any good spy production - also included Malaga in its filming schedule, although this was not known until images revealed those scenes that are part of the final two episodes - five and six - of this production created by David Moreno ('Fariña') and directed by David Ulloa, responsible for the two seasons of 'La Chica de Nieve', (The Snow Girl), also filmed on the Costa del Sol. Thus, the subplot starring an American engineer - played by Appledorn, partner of Moranco Jorge Cadaval - and set in San Fernando (Cadiz) was actually filmed on the Vélez-Málaga coast.

This Cadiz-based scene actually took place at the popular El Pollo de Benajarafe picnic area, where the American actor and numerous extras provided colour for a surveillance scene by members of the CNI, including a fleeing motorbike making its escape along the main avenue, the old N-340 road. The town's old train station is also featured in the footage, which also includes a pretty dramatic scene - no spoilers here - filmed on the beach of this coastal town.

The premiere of 'El Centro' makes it the fifth series filmed in the province to be released on the main streaming platforms in under two months. An avalanche of new releases that includes the Spanish productions 'Dos Tumbas' (Two Graves), a thriller about the disappearance of young women in a village in Malaga that became Netflix's most-watched, non-English language production worldwide for several weeks, and 'La Suerte' (Fate), a fictional tale by Hulu (Disney) about a bullfighter from Malaga in the twilight of his career. The Malaga list is completed by two international fictional series: 'La Novia' (The Girlfriend), starring and directed by American Robin Wright and which has accumulated 25 million views on Amazon Prime Video, and 'Los Amos de la Ciudad' (This City is Ours), a gangster plot set in Liverpool and the Costa del Sol that can also be seen on Movistar+.