# Alpha Males

**Alpha Males** (Spanish: *Machos Alfa*) is a Spanish comedy series created by the brother-and-sister team Alberto and Laura Caballero and produced by their company Contubernio Films for Netflix, in which four male friends in their forties in Madrid struggle to adapt to changing expectations of masculinity.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/alpha-males-premieres-on-december-30)</sup> It premiered on December 30, 2022, and ran for six seasons, with the sixth and final season announced while in production in April 2026.<sup>[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/alpha-males-films-its-sixth-and-final-season)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / creator | *Machos Alfa*, created by Alberto and Laura Caballero (*La que se avecina*, *Aquí no hay quien viva*), produced by Contubernio Films<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/alpha-males-premieres-on-december-30)</sup> |
| Premiere | Netflix, December 30, 2022, worldwide<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/alpha-males-premieres-on-december-30)</sup> |
| Premise | Four friends in their forties, Pedro, Luis, Raúl and Santi, lose the privileges their status as men once brought them and try, clumsily, to adjust to a society with new rules<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/alpha-males-premieres-on-december-30)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.madrid.org/filmmadrid/descargas/Rodajes-CM-Series2022.pdf)</sup> |
| Format | Season 1: 10 episodes of roughly 31–37 minutes, set in Madrid; later seasons of 10 or 6 episodes<sup>[3](https://www.madrid.org/filmmadrid/descargas/Rodajes-CM-Series2022.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.sensacine.com/series/serie-31439/temporadas/)</sup> |
| Main cast | Fernando Gil (Pedro), Gorka Otxoa (Santi), Fele Martínez (Luis), Raúl Tejón (Raúl), with María Hervás, Kira Miró, Raquel Guerrero and Paula Gallego<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/the-fourth-season-of-alpha-males-arrives-on-netflix-on-january-9)</sup> |
| Viewership | Season 1: 44.9 million viewing hours and 8 million completed views over three weeks in the global Top 10; Season 4 stayed four weeks in the global charts<sup>[6](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/alpha-males-renewed-for-season-6-at-netflix-but-it-will-be-the-final-season/)</sup> |
| Format sales | Local adaptations commissioned for France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Greece<sup>[7](https://elpais.com/television/series/2026-04-20/machos-alfa-terminara-con-su-sexta-temporada-en-netflix.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.audiovisual451.com/remake-rights-ii-las-series-espanolas-continuan-compitiendo-como-formatos-en-un-mercado-cada-vez-mas-selectivo/)</sup> |
| End of run | Sixth and final season, 10 episodes, in production as of April 2026, directed by Laura Caballero<sup>[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/alpha-males-films-its-sixth-and-final-season)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Premise and characters

The series follows four Madrid friends facing what the show calls the crisis of their forties: divorces, fatherhood, open relationships, sexless marriages and the loss of the social dominance their generation of men once took for granted.<sup>[3](https://www.madrid.org/filmmadrid/descargas/Rodajes-CM-Series2022.pdf)</sup> Netflix's launch copy framed them as men who "years ago would have been alpha males in charge of their relationships, their work and their life," now living in "the era of equality" under new rules that expose their shortcomings.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/alpha-males-premieres-on-december-30)</sup> A recurring device is a masculinity-deconstruction course the four attend, over the initial resistance of Raúl's character.<sup>[9](https://elpais.com/smoda/feminismo/2025-02-06/es-machos-alfa-realmente-una-serie-feminista.html)</sup>

The four leads are played by Fernando Gil (Pedro), Gorka Otxoa (Santi), Fele Martínez (Luis) and Raúl Tejón (Raúl), with a female ensemble including María Hervás (Daniela), Kira Miró (Luz), Raquel Guerrero (Esther) and Paula Gallego (Alex).<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/the-fourth-season-of-alpha-males-arrives-on-netflix-on-january-9)</sup>

### Seasons and release pattern

Season 1 (10 episodes) premiered December 30, 2022; Season 2 (10 episodes) arrived February 9, 2024; Season 3 (10 episodes) January 10, 2025; Season 4 (6 episodes) January 9, 2026; and Season 5 (6 episodes) April 17, 2026.<sup>[6](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/alpha-males-renewed-for-season-6-at-netflix-but-it-will-be-the-final-season/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.sensacine.com/series/serie-31439/temporadas/)</sup> Days after Season 5 premiered, Netflix confirmed a sixth and final season of ten episodes, already in production, created by Alberto Caballero and Laura Caballero, who also directs, with returning cast joined by Joaquín Reyes, Manuela Velasco, María Adánez, Patricia Conde, Cayetana Cabezas, and María Romanillos.<sup>[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/alpha-males-films-its-sixth-and-final-season)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://elpais.com/television/series/2026-04-20/machos-alfa-terminara-con-su-sexta-temporada-en-netflix.html)</sup>

Season 4's story has the four friends renting an apartment together, seeking refuge from divorces, fatherhood and their stumbling deconstruction, including virility camps and a vacation in [Punta Cana](https://www.edgepedia.org/punta-cana).<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/the-fourth-season-of-alpha-males-arrives-on-netflix-on-january-9)</sup>

## Production background

For the Caballero siblings, known for the ensemble comedies *Aquí no hay quien viva* and *La que se avecina*, the series marked a move to streaming and a change of format, from episodes of about 70 minutes to the roughly half-hour standard.<sup>[10](https://www.formulatv.com/series/machos-alfa/)</sup> According to FormulaTV, the premise was first conceived with several women at the center of the story and was reversed to show the fracturing of gender roles in contemporary society.<sup>[10](https://www.formulatv.com/series/machos-alfa/)</sup> A study of the series published by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid researchers notes that it had initially been planned as a film before appearing in the Netflix catalog on December 30, 2022.<sup>[11](https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstreams/7c6ec2b0-95df-4968-81a9-a6d42661a968/download)</sup>

## Reception and reach

The series became one of Netflix's most successful Spanish productions. Its first season spent three weeks in the platform's global Top 10 with 44.9 million viewing hours and 8 million completed views; Season 2 logged 30.5 million hours and 5.1 million views over three weeks; Season 3 accumulated 23.8 million hours over two weeks; and Season 4 had the longest stay, four weeks in the global charts, with 24.3 million hours and 6.8 million views.<sup>[6](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/alpha-males-renewed-for-season-6-at-netflix-but-it-will-be-the-final-season/)</sup> Season 5 went straight to number 1 in Spain, and by April 2026 the series had spent 189 days in the Netflix Spain Top 10.<sup>[6](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/alpha-males-renewed-for-season-6-at-netflix-but-it-will-be-the-final-season/)</sup>

Its premise, four men in crisis over changes in couple relationships, work and the social debate on masculinity, proved easy to translate: Netflix commissioned adaptations in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, and trade press reported a Greek version as well.<sup>[7](https://elpais.com/television/series/2026-04-20/machos-alfa-terminara-con-su-sexta-temporada-en-netflix.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.audiovisual451.com/remake-rights-ii-las-series-espanolas-continuan-compitiendo-como-formatos-en-un-mercado-cada-vez-mas-selectivo/)</sup> According to a GECA report cited by los40, *Machos Alfa* was the most-adapted series in the world in the first half of 2025.<sup>[12](https://los40.com/2025/07/11/esta-es-la-serie-espanola-que-mas-paises-han-adaptado-en-lo-que-llevamos-de-ano-que-tiene-para-gustar-tanto/)</sup>

## Critical and academic discussion

The series has drawn both praise and criticism over its handling of gender themes. A gender-studies article by Sonia Dueñas Mohedas, Natalia Martínez Pérez and Nerea Cuenca-Orellana, published in the journal *ex æquo*, analyzes the male stereotypes in the series through textual analysis of the characters, covering homosociability, social class, spaces, romantic relationships, and family.<sup>[13](https://exaequo-ojs.apem-estudos.org/exaequo/en/article/view/874)</sup>

In an El País S Moda feature, the journalist Irantzu Varela argued the series treats serious subjects without putting the oppressive behavior on trial, while Paula Serna, research director of the Observatorio de la Diversidad en los Medios Audiovisuales, criticized it for centering only four very similar hegemonic masculinities and for a scene in which a character stands up a woman in a wheelchair.<sup>[9](https://elpais.com/smoda/feminismo/2025-02-06/es-machos-alfa-realmente-una-serie-feminista.html)</sup> Begonya Enguix, professor of Arts and [Humanities](https://www.edgepedia.org/humanities) at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and director of its anthropology degree program, praised the series' attention to everyday sexist language, embodied by Otxoa's character.<sup>[9](https://elpais.com/smoda/feminismo/2025-02-06/es-machos-alfa-realmente-una-serie-feminista.html)</sup> Alberto Caballero responded that the show deliberately portrays hegemonic masculinity (the dominant cultural ideal of manhood in a society) rather than every form of it, and that comedy should not be obliged to deliver moral lessons.<sup>[9](https://elpais.com/smoda/feminismo/2025-02-06/es-machos-alfa-realmente-una-serie-feminista.html)</sup>

The same feature cites the FAD study *La caja de la masculinidad*, which found that 41 percent of Spanish men aged 15 to 29 do not identify with traditional hegemonic masculinity, the social context into which the series' third season introduced concepts such as the manosphere and incels.<sup>[9](https://elpais.com/smoda/feminismo/2025-02-06/es-machos-alfa-realmente-una-serie-feminista.html)</sup>

## References

1. [Machos Alfa llega el 30 de noviembre, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/alpha-males-premieres-on-december-30)
2. ['Alpha Males' Films Its Sixth and Final Season, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/alpha-males-films-its-sixth-and-final-season)
3. [Machos alfa / Alpha Males, Film Madrid, Region of Madrid 2022 series shootings](https://www.madrid.org/filmmadrid/descargas/Rodajes-CM-Series2022.pdf)
4. [Machos Alfa: Guía de las temporadas, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/series/serie-31439/temporadas/)
5. [The Fourth Season of 'Alpha Males' Arrives on Netflix on January 9, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/es_es/news/the-fourth-season-of-alpha-males-arrives-on-netflix-on-january-9)
6. ['Alpha Males' Renewed for Season 6 at Netflix — But It Will Be the Final Season, What's on Netflix](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/alpha-males-renewed-for-season-6-at-netflix-but-it-will-be-the-final-season/)
7. ['Machos alfa' terminará con su sexta temporada en Netflix, El País](https://elpais.com/television/series/2026-04-20/machos-alfa-terminara-con-su-sexta-temporada-en-netflix.html)
8. [Remake rights (II): Las series españolas continúan compitiendo como formatos, Audiovisual451](https://www.audiovisual451.com/remake-rights-ii-las-series-espanolas-continuan-compitiendo-como-formatos-en-un-mercado-cada-vez-mas-selectivo/)
9. ['Machos Alfa' y el falso feminismo, S Moda, El País](https://elpais.com/smoda/feminismo/2025-02-06/es-machos-alfa-realmente-una-serie-feminista.html)
10. [Machos Alfa. Serie TV, FormulaTV](https://www.formulatv.com/series/machos-alfa/)
11. ["Me siento como... deconstruido": masculinidades e igualdad de género en la serie española Machos Alfa, UC3M e-archivo](https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstreams/7c6ec2b0-95df-4968-81a9-a6d42661a968/download)
12. [Esta es la serie española que más países han adaptado en lo que llevamos de año, los40](https://los40.com/2025/07/11/esta-es-la-serie-espanola-que-mas-paises-han-adaptado-en-lo-que-llevamos-de-ano-que-tiene-para-gustar-tanto/)
13. ['I Feel Like... Deconstructed': Masculinities and Gender Equality in the Spanish Series Machos Alfa, ex æquo no. 52](https://exaequo-ojs.apem-estudos.org/exaequo/en/article/view/874)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › Telenovelas and Latin American/Iberian serials › Spanish serial dramas*

*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license
