Tons of concrete. Large rooms and dark alleys. Popular neighborhoods and magnificent villas. A disturbing and oppressive atmosphere, always on the verge of an explosion. It is the environment in which the El Inmortal series takes place. This crime drama about 1990s Madrid depicts the bloody battle between clans for control of the cocaine and nightclub business. Inspired by the Los Miami gang, the series focuses on the figure of its leader and his environment: actor Álex García plays El Inmortal, an ambitious criminal who went from petty trader to head of a brutal criminal organization that he controlled with an iron hand the people of Madrid Night at the end of the 20th century.
The second season of this production by José Manuel Lorenzo (DLO) started on Movistar Plus+ on February 22nd. While the first part depicted the rise and fall of the protagonist, the new parts tell of his relentless fight to regain the criminal empire. Now Movistar Plus+ can be viewed by everyone, regardless of who they have an internet or mobile phone contract with.
“This season depicts a bitter war; “The characters can no longer move freely through Madrid,” explains Miguel Lorenzo, executive producer of El Inmortal. “Our protagonists are no longer neighborhood fools: they have reached the top, they have economic power, they move in spaces with more powerful geometries. All of these places help to understand that these are no longer neighborhood problems. There isn't as much color or festive tones this season; We have reduced the color palette. There is a basic color: gray.”
The gray of concrete colors the environment in which the series is set and defines its aesthetic. The southern periphery of Madrid, with its bridges over the highways and its industrial areas (active or inactive), becomes another character in El Inmortal. The series also recreates representative locations of the capital, many of which were built in the 1960s: for example the Galaxia complex in Moncloa and the financial district of AZCA, whose ground floors are dedicated to nightlife. “They are mythical places in the Madrid night. In the 80s and 90s they weren't exactly pleasant areas and were taken over by gangs and urban tribes of all kinds. I imagine that the production company wanted to look for such locations to give more credibility to the narrative of the series,” explains Alejandro García Alcántara (@madrid_brutalism), muralist and graphic designer and author of the book Brutal Madrid.
As García Alcántara remembers, these two rooms are representatives of brutalism, “an architectural branch of great constructive honesty, of great monumentality and plasticity, which seeks to create contrasts of light and shadow and, in many cases, creates almost sculptural volumes.” Exposed concrete is one the most common features of brutalism; Its intensity and coldness also faithfully reflect the adventures of the Immortal gang and their antagonists.
Architecture catalog (brutalist) by “El Inmortal”
AZCA bass
This financial and business district of Madrid covers 19 hectares and is located between Paseo de la Castellana and Orense Street. Construction began in 1968 and went through a period of neglect in the 1990s.
“There were criminals in the basement of AZCA in the 90s, yes. But it was also a meeting place for B-boys and graffiti writers.”
Galaxy complex
Located in the Moncloa district, this residential and commercial complex was built in the mid-1960s. A pedestrian zone with drinks and a university atmosphere, the Galaxia cafeteria was the scene of an attempted coup in 1978.
“They are open blocks with underground passages, galleries, stairs, alleys and corridors. The feelings it conveys today are fundamentally different from the times in which the series is set.”
Water sports center
Adjacent to the Atlético de Madrid Metropolitan Stadium, construction has begun on this dilapidated 22,000-square-foot venue to host the swimming competitions of the proposed 2012 Madrid Olympics.
“Now it can only be used to recreate post-apocalyptic scenarios. In the end, what remains is a contemporary ruin that tells us not about the past, but about the sad present we are living through.”
Polygon in Torrejón de la Calzada
On the southern border of the Community of Madrid, almost in the province of Toledo, is this round concrete warehouse, a cold and dark building.
“Sebas' crucial scene in the Polygon takes place in a room that is not linked to the protagonist. But even if that’s not the case, the place helps us understand that something is going to happen.”
Bridge on Mejorada Street
This site, also on the outskirts of Madrid, is close to the municipality of Rivas-Vaciamadrid, at kilometer 2.5 of the Mejorada motorway.
“In the second season of 'El Inmortal', the characters move more to the periphery: meetings under bridges, majestic buildings, isolated places…”
Bridge on M-45
It runs along Malecón Street in the southeast of Madrid on the M-45 ring road, which connects the Carabanchel district with San Fernando de Henares.
“There are very dark moments in the series. On a chromatic level we force it a little more; For example, when you have a mother and you tighten her clothes a little more.”
“Visually and conceptually, the protagonist of the series experiences many moments of loneliness. Getting to the top is easy, but staying there is complicated: everyone wants to take power away from the king. There is betrayal, revenge, love, heartbreak. These spaces help us isolate the protagonist and make him smaller. And so he makes you feel like you’re alone,” says Miguel Lorenzo. “These visually heavy spaces are heavy because the character carries a great burden. Straight lines help us draw the characters: they are colder and harsher spaces,” concludes the executive producer.
El Inmortal is a series with a strong aesthetic, filmed in scenarios of violence and abandonment. Photography, art and costumes define the series, which relies on urban planning and architecture to reflect the rise and fall of the protagonist. From the humble neighborhoods and industrial areas where the camel's first steps were seen, to the luxurious haciendas and chalets of drug lords. Places such as Pueblo Nuevo, the lower Aurrerá, in Argüelles and the aforementioned Galaxia and AZCA play a fundamental role in the identity of the series, both on a narrative, visual and artistic level.
Another notable location in the new parts of El Inmortal is the Water Sports Center, also known as the Wanda Pools. Located next to the Atlético de Madrid Metropolitan Stadium, it is a ghost structure that began to emerge to host the swimming events of the yet-to-be-born Madrid Olympic Games in 2012, 2016 and 2020. “The problems that are now being solved in this place, before ⎯ in the first season of the series they would have taken place in the gym. Here we simulate some of the buildings that Los Miami is building so you can see what performance they have achieved,” explains Miguel Lorenzo.
This structure has its Italian parallel in the Roman Città dello Sport, located in the Tor Vergata area. Architect Santiago Calatrava's sports complex was also born for an Olympic bid, Rome 2024, and now lies abandoned: a corpse of concrete, steel and glass. Like the aquatic center in El Inmortal, this monument to urban speculation is a meeting place for the criminal bosses who star in the Italian series Suburra.
The scenarios in fiction
AZCA bass
in the series
In the second episode of the new season, this scenario involves a brawl and a shootout as Los Miami tries to recover stolen money.
Galaxy complex
in the series
In the first season, Maui and José Antonio are walking through this place at night when they are surprised by three men. It is a sequence of great tension and violence.
Water sports center
in the series
This location appears at various times throughout the second season. Another area of these systems was also used to simulate the airport.
Polygon in Torrejón de la Calzada
in the series
It is in this building that the triggering action that underlies the entire second season takes place and will determine the decisions that José Antonio, the leader of Los Miami, will make from now on.
Bridge on Mejorada Street
in the series
The new season begins with a motorcycle sequence that ends in a shootout. This scenario continues the first sequence of the first season and reveals the identity of the shooter.
Bridge on M-45
in the series
In the second episode of the new season, José Antonio avenges the death of a loved one. The darkness of the setting helps us understand the protagonist's pain and desire for revenge.
The Madrid Aquatic Center, a concrete complex that currently lies abandoned and in ruins, impressively reflects the rise and fall of the immortal. “Millions of euros have been wasted on unnecessary infrastructure and a water sports complex that only has water when it rains,” says Erik Harley (@preferiria.periferia), an urban studies expert and creator of the term Pormishuevism, a false artistic movement dealing with Architecture deals with .speculative and corrupt. “This structure, whose construction began fourteen years ago, is a huge venue with an area of 22,000 square meters and a capacity for 18,000 spectators. “Did we spend more than 136 million euros on something for the Olympics that never happened?” asks Harley, author of the book Routes through Brick Spain.
Our protagonists are no longer neighborhood fools: they have reached the top, they have economic power, they move in spaces with more powerful geometries. All of these places help to understand that these are no longer neighborhood problems. There isn't as much color or festive tones this season; We have reduced the color palette. There is one basic color: gray
Miguel Lorenzo, executive producer of “El Inmortal”
Between the opulent luxury of the nouveau riche and the naked misery of the lifelong outcasts, these are the most important Madrid settings in which the passions and horrors of the immortal, his henchmen and his enemies unfold. A story of betrayal, infidelity, power struggles, excess, ambition and unbridled determination. Cold and gray like concrete.
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