"Massiel's Eurovision victory was counterproductive for Franco"

The screenwriting duo behind Hierro y Rapa , Pepe Coira and Fran Araújo, returns to Movistar Plus+ with a series of a completely different genre and tone. The song recreates the events surrounding Massiel's selection to represent Spain with the song "La, la, la" at the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest held in London. Actor Patrick Criado (Madrid, 1995) plays Esteban Guerra, a young RTVE executive through whom we learn how the Franco regime became obsessed with winning the Eurovision Song Contest at all costs in order to project an image of a modern and open country. After months of overcoming obstacles—including the famous episode with Joan Manuel Serrat (played in the series by Marcel Borràs), who refused to sing "La, la, la" unless it was in Catalan—the success was resounding: Massiel (Carolina Yuste) emerged as the winner of the competition. The three-episode series arrives on Movistar Plus+ next Thursday.

Did your character, Esteban Guerra, really exist?

It's completely fictional, created to support the plot and tell the story. The screenwriters told me they were inspired by certain real-life characters, which is normal because we constantly draw on reality. But most of the events depicted in The Song are real and happened exactly as we describe them.

How did you prepare to embody this character?

I did extensive research on the period. I was very interested in learning about the social problems of the time and understanding the context Spain was experiencing at that time.

To improve your image "The regime's machinery was activated to win a music competition that, in reality, none of them cared about."

What was the biggest challenge?

Fitting the character into the series' tone, which is very light and unique, with touches of comedy. The character gave rise to a physical makeup: a peculiar way of walking, speaking, moving... I wanted to build him from that place, somewhat cartoonish, but without losing sight of the character's reality.

Esteban Guerra is a fictional character, but Massiel and Serrat are real. In the series, they're played by Carolina Yuste and Marcel Borràs. How did you approach them?

They had the challenge of portraying real characters without falling into simple imitation. They managed to create moving, lifelike figures. I think they did a brilliant job. The director, Alejandro Marín, insisted he didn't want imitations because they weren't necessary for the story we wanted to tell. Because the series isn't a biopic of either Serrat or Massiel.

Are you a regular follower of the Eurovision Song Contest?

I consider myself a follower, though not a fan. I watch the festival almost every year because I like to know who's representing Spain and with what song, but I'm not a huge Eurovision connoisseur. After filming the series, I do consider myself a bit more of a fan now.

Did Massiel's triumph and everything that surrounded it sound familiar to you?

I had heard something about it from conversations with more enthusiastic people about the festival, but it was actually a story that was quite unknown to me.

You were born in 1995. What did you discover with this series about Francoism?

Franco saw that Spain was falling behind in many ways, while he was losing domestic support. The country was inevitably beginning to open up to the world: these were the years in which tourism began to explode in Spain, and Spaniards were beginning to experience other realities. That's why Franco wanted to win Eurovision to try to move Spain away from the secrecy that characterized it. It's very interesting to see how the entire machinery of the regime is activated to try to win a music competition that, in reality, none of them cared about. They just wanted to be better positioned politically. In my opinion, winning Eurovision ended up being counterproductive for Franco.

You won an Ondas Award for Las noches de Tefía , which addressed the imprisonment of vagrants, dissidents, and homosexuals during the Franco regime. Do you think it's important not to forget the past, especially at this time of the rise of the far right?

It's essential to remember historical events from a social perspective, not just a chronological one. We must dare to tell stories of Franco's regime, no matter how dark they may be, so that they don't happen again. I think many young people absorb far-right messages because they don't know history well, or because they've been told it in a distorted way. We, as artists, have the right and the responsibility to tell things as we believe they should be told, and then let the audience draw their own conclusions. That's what art is for.