Barcelona’s accommodation crisis and the difficulties of single motherhood are central in “I Always Sometimes,” an ambitious new drama series that premiered on Movistar Plus+ on 23 April before launching internationally at Canneseries on 25 April. Created by writers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza, the six-episode half-hour series follows Laura, a woman managing motherhood whilst striving to find affordable housing in a rapidly gentrifying city. Produced by renowned directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo—known for “Veneno” and “La Mesías”—the drama offers a poignant yet candid examination of current economic hardship and the emotional turbulence of young adulthood, anchoring its story in the very real challenges facing single parents across modern Spain.
A Love Story That Starts Where Blissful Finales Fade
The series begins with a whirlwind romance that feels destined for success. Laura, a events coordinator from Berlin, meets Rubén, a Barcelona bar proprietor, at the city’s renowned Sonar music festival. Their connection is immediate and intoxicating—they pass evenings wandering Barcelona’s streets, quoting Rilke to one another, attending raves on Montjuïc, and sharing intimate experiences in chic venues. When Rubén proposes that Laura move in with him, the outlook seems bright and full of possibility, the kind of storybook start that audiences recognise from countless romantic narratives.
However, the narrative shifts dramatically and soberly turn in the second episode. Laura finds out she is pregnant just one week after meeting Rubén, a development that profoundly transforms everything. What initially seemed like a romantic partnership quickly deteriorates when Rubén’s true nature emerges—a man contending with substance abuse and unreliability. Forced to abandon her new life, Laura retreats to her family home, where she finds herself trapped between gratitude for their support and suffocation from their presence. The dream has collapsed, leaving her to grapple with the stark realities of single parenthood alone.
- Laura encounters Rubén at Sonar music festival in Barcelona
- She falls pregnant a week after their first meeting
- Rubén turns out to be an unreliable, alcohol-dependent partner
- Laura returns to her parents’ home with baby boy Mario
Gentrified Barcelona as Character and Crucible
As Laura attempts to create a life for herself and Mario, Barcelona itself transforms into far more than a mere backdrop—it develops into a character both seductive and hostile, beautiful yet fundamentally hostile to those lacking significant financial resources. The city that once fascinated her with its bohemian charm and artistic energy now exposes its reality: a urban centre altered by unrelenting gentrification, where reasonably priced housing has become a commodity out of reach for ordinary working people. Every episode title mentions a distinct area where Laura and Mario reside, a persistent reminder that home remains forever out of reach. The series portrays the bitter irony of a city brimming with affluence and tourist activity, yet completely indifferent to the circumstances of those unable to pay for fundamental housing.
The financial circumstances Laura faces are neither exaggerated nor exceptional—they represent the lived experience of numerous lone parents across contemporary Spain and Europe. “Rent here is absolutely ridiculous,” she complains to an creative acquaintance. “It’s impossible to find anything.” His hopeful reply—”Nothing’s impossible”—is met with her weary, vehement reply: “Flats in Barcelona are.” This conversation captures the series’ unflinching approach to economic hardship, declining to ease the impact or offer easy consolation. Barcelona transforms into not a destination of possibility but a gauntlet through which Laura must contend, balancing her urgent requirement to generate income with her wish to remain present for her small child.
The City’s Paradoxes
Barcelona’s metamorphosis serves as a microcosm of wider European city challenges, where traditional districts are deliberately converted into destinations for wealthy tourists and foreign investment firms. The city that once promised cultural vibrancy and genuine community life now prices out the residents who shape its essence and cultural heart. Laura’s struggle is positioned within this context of paradox—immersed in wealth yet locked out of it, residing in one of Europe’s most sought-after urban centres whilst confronting housing insecurity. The series refuses to romanticise this tension, instead depicting it as the grinding, exhausting reality it actually represents for individuals affected by the aftermath of gentrification.
What makes “I Always Sometimes” particularly resonant is its rooting in distinctive, familiar Barcelona locations that have themselves turned into emblems of the city’s evolving nature. Each episode setting—from creative collectives to informal living situations with sympathetic friends—maps the terrain of struggle, illustrating the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants are driven to its peripheries and overlooked spaces. The contrast between Barcelona’s polished surface and Laura’s precarious existence emphasises the series’ main message: that contemporary urban centres have become increasingly inhospitable to common folk, regardless of their ability, commitment, or perseverance.
Developing Episodes As Short Stories
The structural brilliance of “I Always Sometimes” lies in its approach to serialised narrative, with each of the six instalments functioning as a self-contained narrative whilst developing Laura’s broader arc. Spanning 22 and 35 minutes, the episodes eschew conventional TV rhythm in preference for a more literary sensibility, akin to short stories that explore different facets of single motherhood and urban precarity. This structure allows filmmakers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza to craft character moments with nuance and depth, transcending the surface-level conclusions that frequently affect modern TV drama. Rather than rushing towards narrative devices, the series lingers on the emotional texture of Laura’s daily existence.
Each episode’s title draws from a different place where Laura and Mario temporarily reside, converting geography into storytelling framework. This locational structure becomes a effective narrative technique, charting Laura’s economic decline through the Barcelona landscape whilst concurrently revealing the concealed systems of solidarity and desperation that sustain those on society’s periphery. The intimate scale of these episodes—neither expansive nor hurried—allows genuine exploration of how monetary concerns seeps into every dimension of life, from intimate partnerships to parental impulse. Bassols and Loza’s writing debut exhibits a sophisticated grasp of how form and content can intertwine to create something genuinely affecting.
- Episodes named for Laura’s transient residences chart her precarious housing situation
- Running times vary between 22 and 35 minutes for adaptable storytelling rhythm
- Short story structure allows deeper character development and emotional resonance
- Geographic locations function as representations of economic displacement and social marginalisation
- Series balances personal scenes with broader critiques of modern city living
Visual Storytelling Throughout Six Different Worlds
The visual language of “I Always Sometimes” anchors its narrative in the distinct character of Barcelona’s overlooked spaces. Rather than showcasing the city’s postcard vistas, cinematography captures tight apartments, creative communes, and the unglamorous streets where survival takes precedence over sightseeing. This intentional visual strategy transforms Barcelona from holiday hotspot into a protagonist—one that is at once beautiful and hostile, welcoming and exclusionary. The cinematography captures the sense of confinement of shared living arrangements and the exhaustion etched into Laura’s face as she manages motherhood without adequate support systems. Every shot reinforces the series’ central tension between the city’s promise and its failure to fulfil.
Shot across multiple Barcelona venues, the series employs its visual language to chronicle Laura’s emotional and material circumstances. Airier, more spacious areas intermittently break up darker, confined interiors, reflecting moments of optimism within overwhelming sadness. The visual construction precisely crafts each transient living space, creating the impression of lived-in and authentic rather than simple functional spaces. This commitment to visual specificity applies to costume and styling, where Laura’s visual presentation evolves to reflect her changing circumstances—a modest yet significant storytelling choice that demonstrates how economic hardship transforms identity. The series establishes that personal narratives about ordinary struggles can attain visual sophistication without compromising emotional truth.
Reshaping Motherhood on Screen
“I Always Sometimes” arrives at a point when TV stories about motherhood have become cleaned up and romanticised. The show removes such sentimental ideas, portraying single parenthood as a grinding economic reality rather than a cause for uplifting inspiration. Laura’s story eschews the traditional narrative of adversity-to-victory, instead offering a candid, unvarnished picture of what it involves to bring up a child whilst barely able to afford housing or food. The drama recognises that love for one’s child exists alongside real frustration towards the structures that leave parenting so uncertain. By highlighting Laura’s exhaustion and frustration combined with her warmth, the series presents a truer depiction of maternal experience—one that audiences seldom see in standard broadcast programming.
The collaborative effort between Bassols and Loza lends particular authenticity to this portrayal. Both creators understand the particular nuances of Barcelona’s current challenges, having worked within the city’s creative environment. Their storytelling steers clear of the pitfalls of condescending portrayals of poverty, rather granting Laura depth and autonomy within limited conditions. The series honours its lead character’s intellect and resilience without requiring she perform gratitude for fundamental necessities. This layered treatment extends to supporting characters, who stand as fully realised individuals rather than simple hindrances or helpers. By approaching single motherhood as worthy of serious artistic focus, “I Always Sometimes” questions the hierarchies that have long privileged certain stories over others in television across Europe.
Financial Considerations and Genuine Value
The dialogue brims with specificity when Laura explores Barcelona’s lettings sector, transforming economic frustration into gripping character moments. Her bitter observation—”Nothing’s impossible. Flats in Barcelona are”—captures the series’ rejection of false hope or empty reassurance. Rather than generalising hardship, the writing grounds it in concrete details: the precise amount of rent demanded, the landlords who prey on vulnerability, the precarious gig work that hardly pays for childcare costs. This attention to economic realism sets apart “I Always Sometimes” from stories that depict hardship as symbolic or morally uplifting. The series recognises that financial precarity shapes every decision in Laura’s day.
Authenticity extends beyond dialogue into the series’ structural choices. By titling remaining episodes after the places where Laura briefly resides, the creators foreground housing as the central preoccupation of her life. This structural choice transforms geography into storytelling form, making displacement visible and inescapable. The episode titles function as a countdown of sorts—each new location representing another temporary solution, another close call, another reminder of systemic failure. This approach distinguishes the series from conventional drama, which typically relegates economic concerns to emotional or romantic plotlines. “I Always Sometimes” insists that survival itself constitutes the dramatic core, that the hunt for affordable housing is as compelling as any conventional dramatic tension.
- Episode titles illustrate Laura’s transient housing situations across Barcelona
- Housing expenses and financial obstacles constitute the dramatic backbone of character development
- Writing emphasises material reality over sentimental narratives about motherhood