Barcelona’s housing shortage and the struggles of single motherhood are central in “I Always Sometimes,” an bold new drama series that launched on Movistar Plus+ on 23 April before making its international debut at Canneseries on 25 April. Created by writers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza, the six-part half-hour series follows Laura, a woman managing motherhood whilst striving to find reasonably priced accommodation in a increasingly gentrified 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 modern economic hardship and the emotional upheaval of early adulthood, grounding its narrative in the authentic challenges facing single mothers and fathers across modern Spain.
A Romance That Begins At the Point Where Joyful Conclusions Diminish
The series begins with a whirlwind romance that feels destined for success. Laura, a festival organiser from Berlin, encounters Rubén, a Barcelona bar proprietor, at the city’s prestigious Sonar music festival. Their connection is immediate and intoxicating—they spend nights strolling through Barcelona, quoting Rilke to one another, going to raves on Montjuïc, and enjoying intimate moments in chic venues. When Rubén proposes that Laura relocate to live with him, the future appears promising and brimming with potential, the kind of fairy-tale beginning that viewers recognise from numerous love stories.
However, the narrative undergoes a dramatic and troubling turn in the second episode. Laura discovers 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 caught between appreciation for their backing and stifled by their closeness. The dream has fallen apart, leaving her to face the harsh realities of single parenthood alone.
- Laura meets Rubén at Sonar festival in Barcelona
- She falls pregnant a week after their first meeting
- Rubén proves to be an unreliable, alcohol-dependent partner
- Laura returns to her parents’ home with baby boy Mario
Barcelona’s Gentrification as Character and Crucible
As Laura struggles to build a existence for both herself and Mario, Barcelona itself transforms into far more than a mere backdrop—it emerges as a character both captivating and antagonistic, visually stunning yet fundamentally unwelcoming to those without considerable wealth. The city that previously enchanted her with its bohemian character and creative vitality now shows its genuine nature: a city reshaped by unrelenting gentrification, where decent housing has become a luxury beyond reach for regular working people. Every episode name cites a separate neighbourhood where Laura and Mario squat, a constant reminder that home remains forever out of reach. The series captures the cruel irony of a city flooded with affluence and tourist activity, yet utterly indifferent to the plight of those struggling to afford essential accommodation.
The economic realities Laura faces are neither exaggerated nor exceptional—they reflect the lived experience of countless single parents across contemporary Spain and Europe. “Rent here is absolutely ridiculous,” she laments to an artist friend. “It’s virtually impossible to locate anything suitable.” His optimistic response—”Nothing’s impossible”—is met with her weary, vehement reply: “Flats in Barcelona are.” This conversation encapsulates the series’ unflinching approach to financial difficulty, refusing to soften the blow or offer easy consolation. Barcelona becomes not a place of opportunity but a gauntlet through which Laura must contend, balancing her desperate need to generate income with her desire to stay involved for her young son.
The City’s Contradictions
Barcelona’s evolution serves as a snapshot of larger-scale European metropolitan problems, where historic neighbourhoods are progressively reshaped into destinations for high-spending travellers and international investors. The city that once promised creative vitality and authentic living now prices out the residents who define its identity and soul. Laura’s struggle is framed by this backdrop of contradiction—living amid affluence yet locked out of it, based in one of Europe’s most desirable cities whilst facing homelessness. The series declines to idealise this tension, instead presenting it as the grinding, exhausting reality it genuinely constitutes for those caught in gentrification’s wake.
What makes “I Always Sometimes” especially compelling is its rooting in particular, identifiable Barcelona settings that have themselves evolved as representations of the city’s changing identity. Each episode setting—from artistic communes to temporary arrangements with sympathetic friends—maps the landscape of hardship, showing how the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants are pushed to its margins and forgotten corners. The juxtaposition of Barcelona’s glittering facade and Laura’s unstable circumstances highlights the series’ core premise: that present-day cities have turned more hostile to ordinary people, regardless of their intelligence, work ethic, or determination.
Writing Episodes As Short Stories
The structural brilliance of “I Always Sometimes” lies in its method of handling serialised narrative, with each of the six instalments functioning as a standalone story whilst advancing Laura’s overarching journey. Spanning 22 and 35 minutes, the episodes eschew conventional TV rhythm in favour of a more literary sensibility, resembling short stories that examine different facets of single motherhood and urban precarity. This format allows creators Marta Bassols and Marta Loza to develop scenes between characters with subtlety and complexity, transcending the superficial resolutions that frequently affect contemporary television dramas. Rather than rushing towards plot mechanics, the series lingers on the emotional texture of Laura’s everyday life.
Each episode’s title alludes to a different place where Laura and Mario temporarily reside, converting geography into storytelling framework. This spatial organisation becomes a compelling narrative tool, mapping Laura’s economic decline through Barcelona’s landscape whilst concurrently revealing the unseen connections of collective support and struggle that support those on society’s periphery. The personal scope of these episodes—neither expansive nor rushed—enables thorough investigation of how economic anxiety infiltrates every dimension of life, from romantic relationships to maternal instinct. Bassols and Loza’s writing debut reveals a developed comprehension of how form and content can intertwine to create something genuinely affecting.
- Episodes named for Laura’s temporary homes chart her precarious housing situation
- Running times range from 22 and 35 minutes for flexible narrative pacing
- Episodic format allows more profound character exploration and emotional resonance
- Geographic locations function as representations of economic displacement and social marginalisation
- Series combines intimate moments with broader critiques of modern city living
Narrative Through Visuals Across Six Different Worlds
The visual language of “I Always Sometimes” anchors its narrative in the specific textures of Barcelona’s overlooked spaces. Rather than highlighting the city’s iconic landmarks, the camera work focuses on tight apartments, artist squats, and the ordinary neighbourhoods where necessity prevails over sightseeing. This deliberate aesthetic choice reimagines Barcelona from tourist destination into a protagonist—one that is simultaneously beautiful and hostile, inviting yet rejecting. The camera work conveys the sense of confinement of communal spaces and the exhaustion etched into Laura’s face as she manages motherhood lacking proper assistance. Every frame underscores the core conflict between the city’s promise and its refusal to deliver.
Shot across multiple Barcelona venues, the series leverages its visual style to trace Laura’s emotional and financial situation. Airier, more spacious areas intermittently break up shadowy, restricted spaces, conveying moments of optimism within overwhelming sadness. The set design precisely crafts each makeshift residence, creating the impression of realistic and worn rather than merely functional sets. This commitment to visual specificity extends to costume and styling, where Laura’s appearance subtly shifts to capture her shifting circumstances—a modest yet significant narrative decision that demonstrates how economic hardship reshapes identity. The series demonstrates that intimate dramas about ordinary struggles can attain visual sophistication without sacrificing emotional authenticity.
Transforming Motherhood on Screen
“I Always Sometimes” emerges at a moment when broadcast depictions about motherhood have grown sanitized and sentimentalized. The drama discards such idealistic portrayals, presenting single parenthood as a harsh financial struggle rather than a source of inspirational uplift. Laura’s arc refuses the conventional arc of hardship-to-success, instead offering a candid, unvarnished picture of what it means to care for a child whilst scarcely able to manage housing or food. The drama accepts that love for one’s child exists alongside authentic anger towards the systems that leave parenting so unstable. By centring Laura’s weariness and exasperation together with her compassion, the show offers a more honest representation of maternal experience—one that audiences rarely encounter in standard broadcast programming.
The collaborative effort between Bassols and Loza lends particular authenticity to this portrayal. Both creators grasp the particular nuances of Barcelona’s contemporary struggles, having operated within the city’s creative environment. Their storytelling avoids the traps of condescending portrayals of poverty, instead allowing Laura depth and autonomy within constrained circumstances. The series honours its protagonist’s intelligence and resilience without requiring she display appreciation for fundamental necessities. This nuanced approach extends to secondary figures, who stand as complete, developed people rather than mere obstacles or helpers. By approaching single motherhood as worthy of serious dramatic attention, “I Always Sometimes” questions the hierarchies that have historically favoured certain stories over others in television across Europe.
Economic Factors and Authenticity
The dialogue sparkles with specificity when Laura explores Barcelona’s lettings sector, converting economic frustration into compelling character moments. Her cutting comment—”Nothing’s impossible. Flats in Barcelona are”—encapsulates the series’ rejection of false hope or vapid platitudes. Rather than abstracting poverty, the writing anchors it to concrete details: the precise amount of rent demanded, the landlords who take advantage of need, the fragile freelance labour that barely covers childcare costs. This attention to economic realism sets apart “I Always Sometimes” from stories that depict hardship as symbolic or morally uplifting. The series grasps 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 temporarily squats, the creators prioritise housing as the central preoccupation of her life. This structural choice transforms geography into narrative structure, making displacement apparent and inescapable. The episode titles serve as a countdown of sorts—each new location representing another provisional arrangement, another near-miss, another reminder of systemic failure. This approach distinguishes the series from traditional television drama, which typically relegates economic concerns to emotional or romantic plotlines. “I Always Sometimes” insists that survival itself constitutes the narrative heart, that the hunt for affordable housing is as compelling as any traditional narrative conflict.
- Episode titles illustrate Laura’s transient housing situations across Barcelona
- Rental costs and economic barriers constitute the central dramatic tension of character development
- Writing emphasises material reality over emotional accounts about motherhood