The idyllic cave and bathing spot near Ronda that stars as a romantic getaway in Robin Wright's new Amazon series

Frigiliana isn't the only Malaga town making waves around the world these days thanks to the latest TV series. If that particular provincial municipality is triumphing on the small screen with the thriller Two Graves, which, for the second week in a row, is number 1 on Netflix as the most-watched, non-English-language series worldwide on the streaming platform, it's now joined by another location the province that stands out for its idyllic, almost heavenly image in The Girlfriend, directed by and starring Hollywood actress Robin Wright (of Forrest Gump and House of Cards fame).

With its premiere last Wednesday on Amazon Prime Video, the miniseries has already climbed to second place for top viewing. The watching public can now discover the photogenic qualities of the Cueva del Gato - a cave with an opening shaped like a cat's open mouth - a natural monument in the Serranía de Ronda whose natural pool is the setting for a romantic getaway for two of the lead characters in this thriller, that is full of suspense and obsession.

This miniseries of six episodes has enough ingredients to captivate audiences. Its plot presents the confrontation between a possessive mother and her son and his new girlfriend who has a tendency to deceive. An explosive cocktail that sets up a duel between the mother, played by Robin Wright, who brings out her seductive, malevolent side, and the upstart of a girlfriend, played by Olivia Cooke, the daughter of a butcher (need I say more?), another well-known face on streaming platforms after playing Queen Alicent Hightower in the Game of Thrones prequel, The House of the Dragon. The plot gradually heats up and the family battle steps into pathologically bizarre territory under the watchful eye of the one who is effectively the third wheel in this relationship triangle, the beloved son, played by Laurie Davidson. Moreover, all of this is set against the backdrop of Malaga locations that could come straight out of a luxury travel brochure.

Set in the UK capital, with the posh and exclusive parts of London as its backdrop, The Girlfriend also exploits the holiday imagery of Spain for the Brits and, particularly, of the Costa del Sol, a place of light and good times. This is enhanced in these episodes by the premium setting of some spectacular locations and scenery, most notably the Cueva del Gato in Benaoján near Ronda, where the young lovers escape for a day in the mountainous countryside to evade the inquisitive gaze of the young man's mother, Madame Wright. This includes the couple taking a dip in the Charco Frío, the spring that forms at the mouth of the cat cave with icy water that gushes from inside the cave system. This place has fascinated English travellers since those Romantics on their grand tours of Europe 'discovered' it and wrote about it in the 18th century. This charming scene in The Girlfriend invites you to go in person for a cold dip in these waters.

The lavish tone that the American director imprints on this plot of Hitchcock-esque family intrigue had the Malaga-based company Anima Stillking, together with A Film Location, in charge of sourcing and selecting the locations. As in the case of the Benaoján cave, the chosen locations deliver a sumptuous image of Malaga and the Costa del Sol, the absolute leading character in the second episode.

No less exclusive is Robin Wright's fictional holiday villa, Villa Tramores, that, in addition to a couple of residences, tennis court, swimming pools, a helipad and unique views, also boasts the ruins of a medieval defensive tower, seen in the film and a perfect metaphor for the warlike plot of the main characters in this tale of family intrigue. This property often has well-known tenants, particularly British ones, as was the case with the legendary Princess Diana and, just a few years ago, with the then-PM Boris Johnson.

In this rather dreamy version of Malaga portrayed in The Girlfriend, there is also the scene in which the family clan, under mother's (Robin Wright's) thumb, visit Ronda's avant-garde oil mill - an ode to the land, the olive, the arts and bullfighting - designed by Phillippe Starck, which was converted for the storyline into a unique bodega in the mountains. Then there is the young lovers' biking trail past the El Juanar refuge in the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park. Back on the coast, there is a shopping day in the centre of Marbella. Viewers should also watch out for the episode in which Malaga actor Jaime Ordóñez tries to sell a rabbit to the girlfriend - remember, she's a butcher's daughter - that is way past its best. Then there is the inevitable day on a luxury yacht - named 'Amante' (the lover), nothing is gratuitously arranged in this miniseries - that departs from Puerto de la Duquesa and cruises along the Manilva coastline as the backdrop to one of the key scenes in the episode featuring Malaga.

The miniseries is not only a collection of postcards between a paranoid mother and her son's new love and filled with a sense of great unease and deception, but viewers can also hear Robin Wright speak Spanish with a foreign accent. The Message in a Bottle and Wonder Woman actress starred on the pages of SUR last year when she made a surprise appearance at the Port of Malaga, which also plays a role in this story by transforming itself into the Costa del Sol airport. The actress spread smiles and warmth in the face-to-face encounter. Nothing like her on-screen role in The Girlfriend: that textbook future mother-in-law we all want to avoid.