General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Drag Race España

Drag Race España is a Spanish reality competition television series, the local adaptation of the American format RuPaul's Drag Race, in which drag artists compete in weekly challenges to be crowned Spain's next drag superstar. It premiered on 30 May 2021 on Atresplayer Premium, the streaming platform of the broadcaster Atresmedia, and was the sixth international version of the franchise, following Chile, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada.¹

Key fact	Detail
Original title	RuPaul's Drag Race España²
Premiere	30 May 2021 on Atresplayer Premium²
Production	Atresmedia Televisión and Buendía Estudios, with World of Wonder as executive producer³
Host and judges	Supremme de Luxe (host); Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, and Ana Locking (judges)⁴
Seasons	6 regular seasons (2021–2026) plus a 2024 All Stars edition²^•⁵
Winners	Carmen Farala (S1), Sharonne (S2), Pitita (S3), Le Cocó (S4), Satín Greco (S5)²
Final prize	€50,000⁶

Spoilers

Seasons and spin-offs

Six regular seasons have aired. The first ran from 30 May to 25 July 2021 with 10 contestants and was won by Carmen Farala; the second (2022) and third (2023) were won by Sharonne and Pitita, the fourth (2024) by Le Cocó, and the fifth (2025) by Satín Greco. Season 3 was the only edition with 13 contestants; the others have each had 12.²

In June 2022, Atresmedia Television and Buendía Estudios renewed the contest for a third season and announced Drag Race España: All Stars, making the Spanish franchise the first international adaptation of the All Stars format; the All Stars edition aired in 2024.⁷^•⁵

The franchise is also accompanied by companion formats on Atresplayer: Tras la carrera, hosted by Ana Locking, in which each eliminated queen reviews her time on the show and shows looks that never reached the runway; Sí lo digo, led by former contestant Samantha Ballentines; and, from the sixth season, the video podcast Reina, reina y reina!, presented by Mafalda González.⁸

Origin and production

Atresmedia commissioned the Spanish version in November 2020 for its Atresplayer Premium subscription service. The show is produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Buendía Estudios and executive produced by World of Wonder (WOW), the American company that created the original format; Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, and Tom Campbell serve as executive producers. The deal was brokered by Passion Distribution, which distributes the series globally, and episodes are available on WOW's own streaming service, WOW Presents Plus, in the UK, the US, and other international markets day-and-date with their Spanish premiere.³

The commission fit Atresplayer Premium's strategy of differentiating itself from the "white and family" audience of its flagship channel Antena 3 with content centered on the LGBTQ+ community, alongside titles such as the biopic Veneno and the documentary Ellas.⁵

Format

As in the original format, each episode combines mini challenges and maxi challenges, testing the contestants' skills in sewing, photo shoots, dance, acting, comedy, and musical performance, and closes with a themed runway. Eliminations are decided in lip sync duels.¹ The winner receives a €50,000 final prize.⁶

The show has been hosted since its first season by the drag artist Supremme de Luxe, who described her approach as an adaptation rather than an imitation of RuPaul. The judging panel has consisted of the directors and creators Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi and the fashion designer Ana Locking.¹^•⁴

Sixth season

The sixth season premiered on 27 September 2026, after a Meet the Queens reveal on 6 September presented a cast of 12 queens: Àlex Marteen, Alma DeSoul, Buba Anorex, Coco Luna, Joan Chevalier, Kim Miller, Liak, Liz Dust, Maitetxu Mia, Marcus Massalami, Sorny, and Vanessa Artiles. For the first time in the Spanish franchise's history the cast includes a drag king, a contestant from the Basque Country, and a platform-style drag artist associated with the Canary Islands who is not from the islands.⁴

The season introduced a new elimination mechanic built around chance. After the judges select the three bottom queens, Supremme de Luxe flips a coin: on heads, the other contestants vote openly for which of the three to save from the lip sync; on tails, they vote for which one to condemn to the elimination duel.⁹ The season also brought a completely renovated set, whose visual identity combines floral motifs, fringes and fans, and textures inspired by traditional tiles, and the singer Chanel as a guest.⁸

Reception and cultural significance

The fifth season broke the franchise's Spanish records: it had the best premiere in the show's history on Atresplayer, the most-watched Meet the Queens special to date, and was the best-rated season of the Spanish franchise.⁶

Academic work has examined the show as a site of cultural reinterpretation. A textual analysis of the third season argues that the program subverts stereotypical symbols of Spanish national identity, from gastronomic references such as ham to historical figures such as Juan Carlos I, and reintroduces figures neglected by mainstream television entertainment, such as the artist Ocaña, alongside popular icons like Lola Flores and María Jiménez.⁵ Other studies have analyzed how contestants reinterpret traditional Spanish symbols, including flamenco, bullfighting, and religious imagery, through a queer and camp lens,¹⁰ and how the Spanish and Mexican editions adapt the franchise's English-language drag lingo through translation, code-switching, and regional slang.¹¹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Reality and competition franchise editions › Reality and competition franchises — overview and format history › Premiered 1995 to 2021

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

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