# Spanish Affair 2
**[Spanish Affair](https://www.edgepedia.org/spanish-affair-2014-film) 2** (original title *Ocho apellidos catalanes*) is a 2015 Spanish romantic comedy directed by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro and the sequel to *Ocho apellidos vascos* (2014), one of the highest-grossing Spanish films in history. It moves the saga's regional-stereotype comedy from the Basque Country to [Catalonia](https://www.edgepedia.org/catalonia), against the backdrop of the Catalan independence process of 2015.[1](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/) • [2](https://www.ara.cat/cultura/critica-docho-apellidos-catalanes_1_1767586.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Ocho apellidos catalanes* |
| Release | 20 November 2015 (Spain); 1 h 39 min; comedy, romance[1](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/) |
| Director and writers | Emilio Martínez-Lázaro; screenplay Borja Cobeaga and Diego San José[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/299502/) |
| Main cast | Dani Rovira, Clara Lago, Karra Elejalde, Carmen Machi, Berto Romero, Rosa María Sardà, Belén Cuesta[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/299502/) • [4](https://www.mediasetinfinity.es/programas-tv/especiales/programas-especiales/episodios/making-of-8-apellidos-catalanes-40_1006367575940/player/) |
| Spanish box office | 36.1 million euros, third among Spanish films behind *Ocho apellidos vascos* (56.1 million) and *Lo imposible* (44.2 million)[5](https://elpais.com/cultura/cine/2026-10-12/la-bola-negra-entra-en-la-lista-de-las-10-peliculas-espanolas-mas-taquilleras-de-la-historia.html) |
| 2015 performance | Best Spanish opening of the year; highest-grossing Spanish film of 2015 after its third week[6](https://www.lavanguardia.com/participacion/20151123/30343783345/ocho-apellidos-catalanes-critica-usuarios.html) • [7](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-espectadores/) |
| Critical reception | Press average 2.2/5 on SensaCine (12 reviews); IMDb user rating 5.4/10[8](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-prensa/) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3626742/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Amaia ([Clara Lago](https://www.edgepedia.org/clara-lago)) and Rafa (Dani Rovira) break up, and she moves to Girona, where she falls in love with a Catalan, Pau (Berto Romero). When her Basque father Koldo (Karra Elejalde) learns of the engagement, he travels to Seville to persuade Rafa to come to Catalonia and win her back. Pau, to please his independenceist grandmother, plans a wedding in a masia staged as if it were taking place in a newly independent Catalan Republic, while Rafa tries to sabotage the wedding to recover the woman he loves.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3626742/) • [1](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/)
Cineuropa's synopsis frames the comic engine as nationalist rivalry: Koldo's alarm at his daughter marrying "a Catalan" drives him across the border into [Andalusia](https://www.edgepedia.org/andalusia), and Rafa agrees to pose as a Catalan and even lead a new Catalan nationalism movement as part of the scheme.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/299502/)
## Production and genesis
The sequel was written quickly. Before *Ocho apellidos vascos* even premiered, its screenwriters Borja Cobeaga and Diego San José had sketched, at the request of Mediaset España chief Paolo Vasile, a half page of ideas for a possible second part, offering two options: a story set in Catalonia or one continuing in Bilbao. Director Martínez-Lázaro and Cobeaga preferred Bilbao, but Telecinco chose the clash of nationalisms. Cobeaga cited *My Best Friend's Wedding* as a reference for the plot of preventing a wedding, and noted a structural change from the first film: Koldo, previously the antagonist, becomes Rafa's accomplice.[10](https://elpais.com/cultura/2015/11/14/actualidad/1447505962_053475.html)
Filming began on 11 May 2015 in Catalonia and finished on 5 July in Seville.[4](https://www.mediasetinfinity.es/programas-tv/especiales/programas-especiales/episodios/making-of-8-apellidos-catalanes-40_1006367575940/player/) The film was produced by LaZona Producciones and Telecinco Cinema and distributed by Universal Pictures International Spain, with music by Roque Baños.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/299502/) New cast members included Rosa María Sardà, Berto Romero, and Belén Cuesta, whose character points toward a possible third installment.[1](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/) • [11](https://www.victorsancho.com/blog/cine/8-apellidos-catalanes/)
## Box office
The film opened on 20 November 2015, twenty months after the first installment, and set the best Spanish opening of 2015 despite its release being moved to displace the Spanish debut of *The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2*.[1](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/) • [7](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-espectadores/) After its third week it was the highest-grossing Spanish film of 2015, and it ranked among the week's best openings worldwide until the release of *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*.[6](https://www.lavanguardia.com/participacion/20151123/30343783345/ocho-apellidos-catalanes-critica-usuarios.html) • [7](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-espectadores/)
Its final Spanish gross of about 36.1 million euros places it third on the all-time list of Spanish films, behind *Ocho apellidos vascos* (56.1 million) and *Lo imposible* (44.2 million).[5](https://elpais.com/cultura/cine/2026-10-12/la-bola-negra-entra-en-la-lista-de-las-10-peliculas-espanolas-mas-taquilleras-de-la-historia.html) The Academia de Cine's magazine reported that the late-2015 season sold more than 5.3 million tickets, of which 4.4 million were for this film.[12](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aca217web.pdf)
## Critical reception
Press reviews were largely negative. SensaCine's aggregation of 12 media reviews gives an average of 2.2 out of 5.[8](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-prensa/) eCartelera reported that specialized critics at the press screening were nearly unanimous in calling the film dull and listless, and much inferior to its predecessor.[13](https://www.ecartelera.com/noticias/malas-primeras-criticas-8-apellidos-catalanes-27036/)
Recurring criticisms concerned the script and pacing. Jordi Batlle Caminal wrote in Fotogramas that the agility and sense of rhythm Martínez-Lázaro brought to the first film were absent from this "macroenredo atropellado" (rushed mega-tangle), and that the romantic side had been overemphasized.[8](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-prensa/) Carlos Boyero of El País found it even more inconsequential than the first film, with noticeably greater tedium.[14](https://www.ecartelera.com/peliculas/ocho-apellidos-catalanes/criticas/) Carlos Reviriego of El Cultural judged that the regionalist jokes about Catalan stereotypes, such as stinginess, hipsterism, and posturing, were predictable and less well exploited than the Basque and Andalusian material of the first film.[8](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-prensa/) Olga Pereda of El Periódico argued the script lacked both the freshness and the political transgression of the first part, asking whether jokes about Basques are simply funnier than jokes about Catalans.[8](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-prensa/) Some reviews were more mixed: El Mundo's Luis Martínez credited the film with staying faithful to the original's founding principles while never rising above the topical moment.[14](https://www.ecartelera.com/peliculas/ocho-apellidos-catalanes/criticas/)
Audience response was divided. SensaCine users gave 2.5/5, and La Vanguardia's user-review roundup recorded both harsh verdicts, such as complaints that the film recycled the first film's gags, and enthusiastic ones, including Catalan viewers who said they laughed throughout and praised Karra Elejalde's performance.[1](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/) • [6](https://www.lavanguardia.com/participacion/20151123/30343783345/ocho-apellidos-catalanes-critica-usuarios.html) The film's IMDb rating stands at 5.4/10 from about 8,700 votes.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3626742/)
## Context and legacy
The film arrived at a politically charged moment, weeks after the Catalan parliamentary election of September 2015, and Catalan-language commentary such as *Ara* noted that its reception in Catalonia was entangled with questions about the independence process and how [Catalans](https://www.edgepedia.org/catalans) are portrayed from outside.[2](https://www.ara.cat/cultura/critica-docho-apellidos-catalanes_1_1767586.html) Academic work has since treated the first two films as a pair that both deploys and defuses regional stereotypes during a period of tension between the central government and the autonomous communities.[15](https://espejodemonografias.comunicacionsocial.es/article/view/7897)
The saga continued with *Ocho apellidos marroquís* (2023), which [El País](https://www.edgepedia.org/el-pais)'s Carlos Boyero reviewed as a follow-up built on the same formula.[16](https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-12-01/ocho-apellidos-marroquis-donde-esta-la-gracia.html) A 2024 industry analysis credited the two *Ocho apellidos* films with most of actress Carmen Machi's cumulative Spanish box office, 56.2 million euros for the first and 36.1 million for the second.[17](https://enfoqueav.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BO_ES_01_02_2024.pdf)
## References
1. [Ocho apellidos catalanes – SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/)
2. [Crítica d''Ocho apellidos catalanes' – Ara](https://www.ara.cat/cultura/critica-docho-apellidos-catalanes_1_1767586.html)
3. [Spanish Affair 2 (Ocho apellidos catalanes) – Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/299502/)
4. [Making of 8 apellidos catalanes – Mediaset Infinity](https://www.mediasetinfinity.es/programas-tv/especiales/programas-especiales/episodios/making-of-8-apellidos-catalanes-40_1006367575940/player/)
5. ['La bola negra' entra en la lista de las 10 películas españolas más taquilleras de la historia – El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/cine/2026-10-12/la-bola-negra-entra-en-la-lista-de-las-10-peliculas-espanolas-mas-taquilleras-de-la-historia.html)
6. ['Ocho apellidos catalanes': la crítica de los usuarios – La Vanguardia](https://www.lavanguardia.com/participacion/20151123/30343783345/ocho-apellidos-catalanes-critica-usuarios.html)
7. [Críticas de los espectadores – SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-espectadores/)
8. [Críticas de prensa para Ocho apellidos catalanes – SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-231483/criticas-prensa/)
9. [Spanish Affair 2 (2015) – IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3626742/)
10. [Así fue la génesis de 'Ocho apellidos catalanes' – El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2015/11/14/actualidad/1447505962_053475.html)
11. [8 apellidos catalanes – Víctor Sancho](https://www.victorsancho.com/blog/cine/8-apellidos-catalanes/)
12. [Academia, revista del cine español, nº 217 (enero/febrero 2016)](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aca217web.pdf)
13. [Primeras impresiones de 'Ocho apellidos catalanes' – eCartelera](https://www.ecartelera.com/noticias/malas-primeras-criticas-8-apellidos-catalanes-27036/)
14. [Críticas de Ocho apellidos catalanes (2015) – eCartelera](https://www.ecartelera.com/peliculas/ocho-apellidos-catalanes/criticas/)
15. [La caída del estereotipo andaluz y catalán en la España contemporánea – Espejo de Monografías de Comunicación Social](https://espejodemonografias.comunicacionsocial.es/article/view/7897)
16. ['Ocho apellidos marroquís': ¿dónde está la gracia? – El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-12-01/ocho-apellidos-marroquis-donde-esta-la-gracia.html)
17. [Boletín Enfoque AV (2024): taquilla de Carmen Machi](https://enfoqueav.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BO_ES_01_02_2024.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released in the 2010s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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