# Always a Witch
**Always a Witch** (Spanish: *Siempre Bruja*) is a Colombian fantasy drama television series produced by Caracol Televisión for Netflix, in which a 17th-century enslaved witch escapes execution by time-traveling to present-day [Cartagena](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartagena). It premiered on 1 February 2019 and ran for two seasons and 18 episodes, ending on 28 February 2020.[1](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/) Netflix announced it on 6 December 2017 as its second Colombian original series, after *Distrito salvaje*.[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Siempre Bruja*; English title Always a Witch[1](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/) |
| Basis | Inspired by the 2015 novel *Yo, Bruja* by Costa Rican author Isidora Chacón[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja) • [3](https://www.nacion.com/viva/television/novela-costarricense-inspira-la-serie-de-netflix/64EVG6BRNRBYRFVWPLHJJMFTRI/story/) |
| Production | Caracol Televisión for Netflix; executive producer Dago García; shot entirely in 4K[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja) |
| Run | Season 1 (10 episodes) premiered 1 February 2019; season 2 (8 episodes) ended 28 February 2020[1](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/) • [4](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/80205595) |
| Lead cast | Angely Gaviria as Carmen Eguiluz, with Sebastián Eslava, Verónica Orozco, Luis Fernando Hoyos, Lenard Vanderaa, Sofia Araujo, and Dylan Fuentes[5](https://epguides.com/AlwaysaWitch/) |
| Ratings | Rotten Tomatoes 43% Tomatometer (7 reviews) and 57% Popcornmeter; IMDb 6.3/10[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/siempre_bruja) |
| Age rating | TV-14[4](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/80205595) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Carmen Eguiluz is a 19-year-old enslaved woman and witch in 17th-century Cartagena de Indias. Having fallen in love with a white man, a crime for which she is sentenced to be burned at the stake, she accepts an old wizard's offer of escape: she travels through time to a place where nobody believes in witches, on the condition that she never uses her powers. She arrives in present-day Cartagena, starts a new life, makes friends, and attends university, but cannot abandon her hope of reuniting with the man she loves, and her identity as a witch follows her.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/siempre_bruja) • [5](https://epguides.com/AlwaysaWitch/)
The series' opening frames situate the viewer explicitly in colonial Colombia under Catholic Spain and the [Spanish Inquisition](https://www.edgepedia.org/spanish-inquisition).[7](https://irishgothicjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/issue-18-full-issue-2.pdf) Spanish-language listings place the opening action in the year 1646 and describe Carmen as a young mulata, enslaved, and daughter of the healer Paula de Eguiluz, so that neither her ethnicity nor her social class helps her escape a capital sentence for practices labeled satanic.[1](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/)
In the second season, Carmen's magic gains popularity when she is outed as a witch on social media, and a new set of challenges follows.[8](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/always-a-witch/season-2)
### Cast and characters
Angely Gaviria leads the series as Carmen Eguiluz. The principal cast includes Sebastián Eslava as Esteban, Verónica Orozco as Ninibé, Luis Fernando Hoyos as Aldemar, Lenard Vanderaa as Cristóbal, Sofia Araujo as Alicia, Dylan Fuentes as Johnny Ki, Carlos Quintero as León, Valeria Emiliani as Mayte, and Dubán Prado as Daniel.[5](https://epguides.com/AlwaysaWitch/) • [8](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/always-a-witch/season-2) Óscar Casas joined the cast for the second season.[1](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/)
## Production
Netflix commissioned the series in December 2017, describing it as a young adult drama of ten one-hour episodes shot entirely in 4K, with Dago García (*Pedro el escamoso*, *El Paseo*) as executive producer and production by Caracol Televisión.[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja) Direction was shared by Liliana Bocanegra (*La Esclava Blanca*, *Celia*) and Mateo Stivelberg (*La Esclava Blanca*, *La Rectora*), with Ana María Parra as head writer; Diego Vivanco later joined her as writer.[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja) • [1](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/) Filming took place entirely in Colombia, with locations in Bogotá, Cartagena, and Honda, and Juliana Barrera served as producer.[9](https://www.caracoltv.com/cultura-caracol/siempre-bruja-segunda-serie-colombiana-original-de-netflix-se-estrena-en-febrero?_amp=true)
At announcement, Netflix's vice president of International Originals, Erik Barmack, framed the show as a young adult story with a message of empowerment intended to connect with audiences in Colombia and globally.[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the first season holds a 43% Tomatometer from 7 reviews, with an audience Popcornmeter score of 57%.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/siempre_bruja) IMDb users rate the series 6.3 out of 10.[8](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/always-a-witch/season-2)
**Divided commentary.** A Remezcla roundup of Latino critics found reactions split along several lines: some viewers considered the romance between Carmen, an enslaved woman, and her master's white son an offensive trope; others welcomed the rare sight of a Black woman leading a Latin American series; and many were skeptical of how easily Carmen adjusts to a Cartagena four centuries in her future.[10](https://remezcla.com/lists/film/latino-critics-netflix-siempre-bruja-review/) A Common Sense Media review similarly flagged the depiction of Carmen being sold to a light-skinned family and flirting with the son on the auction block as problematic, while noting that an Afro-Latina lead actress is a rarity for shows filmed in Latin America.[11](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/siempre-bruja) One critic quoted by Remezcla called Carmen perhaps the most sensational Black witch to appear onscreen.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/siempre_bruja)
Scholarly writing on global television horror has read the series as a challenge to Hollywood versions of witchcraft that relegate witches of color to supporting roles: Carmen Eguiluz is Black, enslaved when the story begins, and nonetheless indisputably the center of the drama and a powerful witch.[12](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781786836953_A46629219/preview-9781786836953_A46629219.pdf)
## Historical background
The series' premise draws on a documented history of witchcraft prosecution in Cartagena de Indias. The tribunal of the Holy Office (the Spanish Inquisition) arrived in the port city in 1610 and operated there for 211 years, pursuing practices and beliefs that departed from Catholic orthodoxy.[13](https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/133779) A 2023 master's thesis examining the tribunal's records for 1610 to 1636 identified 77 women processed in the tribunal's first decades, most of African descent, with witchcraft representing the largest proportion of charges, reflecting the inquisitorial authorities' belief in a link between women and witchcraft.[13](https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/133779) Historical scholarship has analyzed a 1618 to 1622 inquisitorial proceeding against four enslaved women from the [Gulf of Guinea](https://www.edgepedia.org/gulf-of-guinea), concluding that the identity of the Black witch functioned as a theological-political form of governance by slaveholding power.[14](https://revistas.ucentral.edu.co/index.php/nomadas/article/view/2475) Other studies of the tribunal's records note that cases against women and men of African origin blended the inquisitors' European witch imagery with African religious inheritances, including shamanic healing practices and fertility cults.[15](https://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/cualit/article/view/8011)
## Status
The series ended after two seasons; Netflix did not order a third.[4](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/80205595) As of late 2026, season 2 was still listed as streaming on Netflix in the United States.[8](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/always-a-witch/season-2)
## References
1. [Siempre Bruja, Serie TV, FormulaTV](https://www.formulatv.com/series/siempre-bruja/)
2. [Netflix announces second Colombian original series, Siempre Bruja, About Netflix (6 December 2017)](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/siempre-bruja)
3. [Novela costarricense inspira la serie de Netflix 'Siempre bruja', La Nación](https://www.nacion.com/viva/television/novela-costarricense-inspira-la-serie-de-netflix/64EVG6BRNRBYRFVWPLHJJMFTRI/story/)
4. [Everything you need to know about "Always a Witch" on Netflix USA, New On Netflix USA](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/80205595)
5. [Always a Witch, a Titles & Air Dates Guide, epguides](https://epguides.com/AlwaysaWitch/)
6. [Always a Witch | Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/siempre_bruja)
7. [Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 18 (2020)](https://irishgothicjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/issue-18-full-issue-2.pdf)
8. [Always a Witch - Season 2, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/always-a-witch/season-2)
9. ['Siempre bruja', segunda serie colombiana original de Netflix, se estrena en febrero, Caracol TV](https://www.caracoltv.com/cultura-caracol/siempre-bruja-segunda-serie-colombiana-original-de-netflix-se-estrena-en-febrero?_amp=true)
10. [What Latino Critics Are Saying About Netflix's 'Siempre Bruja', Remezcla](https://remezcla.com/lists/film/latino-critics-netflix-siempre-bruja-review/)
11. [Siempre Bruja, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/siempre-bruja)
12. [Global TV Horror (preview), University of Wales Press](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781786836953_A46629219/preview-9781786836953_A46629219.pdf)
13. [Las Mujeres y la Inquisición en Cartagena de Indias 1610-1636, Repositorio Institucional de Documentos, Universidad de Zaragoza](https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/133779)
14. [La bruja negra como alteridad abismal del poder esclavista: Cartagena de Indias, 1618-1622, Nómadas](https://revistas.ucentral.edu.co/index.php/nomadas/article/view/2475)
15. [Brujería y chamanismo. Duelo de símbolos en el Tribunal de la Inquisición de Cartagena (1628), Cuadernos de Literatura](https://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/cualit/article/view/8011)
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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 › Colombian telenovelas and 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