General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

The Barrier

The Barrier (La valla) is a Spanish dystopian drama television series created by Daniel Écija, broadcast in 2020 on Atresplayer Premium and Antena 3 and distributed internationally on Netflix¹^•². Its single season of 13 episodes is set in a Madrid of 2045, where a dictatorial regime has divided the capital with a concrete fence into Sector 1, home to the government and privileged classes, and Sector 2, where the rest of the population lives³.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	La valla (English title: The Barrier)¹
Creator	Daniel Écija, through The Good Mood Productions with Globomedia, for Atresmedia¹
Broadcast	First aired 19 January 2020 on Atresplayer Premium, then on Antena 3; final episode 3 December 2020¹^•⁴
Format	1 season, 13 episodes of about 50 minutes¹
Setting	Madrid, 2045, split by a fence into Sector 1 (elite) and Sector 2 (everyone else)³
Main cast	Unax Ugalde (Hugo), Olivia Molina (Julia), Eleonora Wexler (Alma), Ángela Molina (Emilia), Abel Folk (Luis), Laura Quirós (Marta)⁵
Reception	IMDb 6.8/10; JustWatch user rating 69%⁵

Spoilers

Premise and setting

The series imagines Spain in 2045, twenty-five years after a Third World War whose catastrophes, together with epidemics, economic crises, and the overexploitation of natural resources, pushed Western democracies into dictatorial regimes³^•⁶. Rural life has become impossible, and Madrid is divided into two closed sectors⁷. The fence gives the series its title and its central image: Sector 1 holds the wealthy families close to or part of the regime, living in mansions with gardens and service, while Sector 2 holds the rest, facing shortages and constant sanitation operations⁷^•⁶.

A lethal virus called the Noravirus threatens all social classes, and scientists search for a cure⁷. Alma, wife of the Health Minister Luis Covarrubias, runs experiments through her private clinic and confirms that the blood of some children carries the antibodies needed to end the pandemic⁷. Among these children is Marta, a ten-year-old newly arrived from Asturias, who is detained and separated from her family without explanation⁷.

The plot follows the Mujica family. Hugo Mujica reaches Madrid with his daughter Marta and his brother after a long journey from Asturias, where his wife died from the virus; when Marta is taken into a secret government-funded scientific program, Hugo ventures with his sister-in-law Julia beyond the Barrier to recover her⁶. The story also involves a prologue in which a father inserts a device into the necks of his young daughters before being arrested, one of whom grows up to be Julia⁸.

Cast and characters

The main cast pairs Unax Ugalde as Hugo and Olivia Molina as Julia, with Eleonora Wexler as Alma, Ángela Molina as Emilia, Abel Folk as Luis, and Laura Quirós as Marta⁵. The wider ensemble included Manu Fullola, Daniel Ibáñez, Belén Écija, Iván Chavero, Juan Blanco, Elena Seijo, Yaima Ramos, and Nicolás Illoro³.

Ángela Molina won the Premio Iris for Best Actress for her performance, and Ugalde was nominated for a MiM Series 2020 award for his role¹⁰.

Production

Daniel Écija, previously the creator of series such as El internado and Estoy vivo, developed the series through his production company The Good Mood Productions in collaboration with Globomedia for Atresmedia¹^•⁸. The directing team comprised Écija, Jesús Rodrigo, Lucas Gil, Oriol Ferrer, Luis Oliveros, and David Molina Encinas, and the writing team included Écija, Inés París, Clara Botas, Jorge Valdano, Ángela Armero, Tatiana Rodríguez, Arantxa Cuesta, David Muñoz, and Roberto Martín Maiztegui³.

Filming took place in Madrid and Segovia. The shoot ran for 25 weeks from January to June 2019, totaling 196 working days, of which 48 percent were shot in Madrid locations and 19 percent in Segovia, with the remainder on studio sets⁹. Madrid locations included Puerta del Sol, Paseo de la Castellana, Plaza de las Cortes, and the La Almudena cemetery³. The production design was by Pilar Revuelta, costume design by Sonia Grande, and cinematography by Néstor Calvo⁹.

Release and reception

The series premiered on the pay platform Atresplayer Premium on 19 January 2020 before moving to the free-to-air channel Antena 3, where its first broadcast was on 10 September 2020¹^•⁴. According to Atresmedia, the first episode was the most-watched premiere in the history of ATRESplayer Premium¹⁰. Netflix distributed the series internationally from September 2020, and Écija reported that it was in the Top 10 in fourteen countries, with a sustained presence in the French Top 10 for more than two months¹¹^•¹².

Aggregated ratings place the series in middling territory: IMDb users give it 6.8/10 and JustWatch users 69 percent⁵, while FormulaTV's editorial score is 7.8¹. Critics highlighted the family drama at its core. A review in Contraste described it as a well-narrated drama in which marital love and family bonds, rather than political intrigue, carry the story, rating it 6/10⁷. Espinof's review judged the series fluid and capable of action and tension but criticized the way some plot elements, such as the amulets and the implants in the girls' necks, were introduced⁸.

Themes and context

The series converges several strands of dystopian fiction: a planet devastated by natural catastrophes, a mysterious virus without an effective cure, and a totalitarian regime that trades civil liberties for promised order and security⁶. The division of the city into two sectors is a standard trope of dystopian fiction, and commentators drew parallels between the fictional Noravirus and the COVID-19 pandemic, which began shortly after the series was filmed⁶. Écija himself noted that when the project began, two years before broadcast, talking about a city divided by a wall seemed far more dystopian than it did by 2020¹³.

A second season was planned: Atresmedia and Good Mood committed to continuing the series and had written about eight chapters of scripts by late 2020, awaiting a production decision¹¹. The series ultimately ran for one season of 13 episodes¹. It remains available on Netflix, and in Spain also on Atresplayer¹⁴.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Science fiction, horror, and supernatural

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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