Spanish Affair

8 apellidos vascos

A hit in Spain, this enjoyable rom-com combines inventive energy, fish-out-of-water gags, engaging performances and a hilarious plot where regional clichés meet nationalist aspirations.


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  • Director Emilio Martínez-Lázaro
  • Producer Álvaro Augustín
  • Screenwriter Borja Cobeaga, Diego San José
  • With Clara Lago, Dani Rovira, Carmen Machi
  • Spain 2013
  • 95 mins
  • Sales Film Factory Entertainment

Amaia celebrates her hen night at an Andalusian bar in Seville, but things go wrong when she ends up in bed with local barman Rafa. Returning home to the Basque country the next morning, she is disturbed to find Rafa in hot pursuit. However, he soon realises that her fiercely nationalistic family are not going to welcome an Andalusian into their kin. So, together with the help of a local thespian (Almodóvar favourite Carmen Machi), a cunning plan is devised to fabricate a new identity for Rafa, with hilarious consequences for all concerned. A massive box office hit in its native Spain, Spanish Affair combines fish-out-of-water gags and engaging performances with a boundless energy as it exposes regional clichés and nationalist politics while highlighting the need to always see the world from somebody else’s point of view.

Maria Delgado