Barcelona’s accommodation crisis and the difficulties of single motherhood take centre stage in “I Always Sometimes,” an compelling new drama series that premiered on Movistar Plus+ on 23 April before launching internationally at Canneseries on 25 April. Created by writers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza, the six-episode half-hour series follows Laura, a woman balancing motherhood whilst attempting to secure affordable housing in a gentrified city. Produced by acclaimed filmmakers Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo—known for “Veneno” and “La Mesías”—the drama presents a touching yet unflinching study of contemporary financial struggle and the emotional turbulence of early adulthood, grounding its narrative in the genuine challenges facing single mothers and fathers across modern Spain.
A Tale of Love That Commences At the Point Where Happy Endings Wane
The series opens with a passionate affair that seems bound for success. Laura, a festival organiser from Berlin, encounters Rubén, a Barcelona bar proprietor, at the city’s renowned Sonar music festival. Their connection is immediate and intoxicating—they pass evenings strolling through Barcelona, quoting Rilke to one another, attending raves on Montjuïc, and enjoying intimate moments in chic venues. When Rubén suggests that Laura relocate to live with him, the outlook seems promising and brimming with potential, the kind of fairy-tale beginning that viewers recognise from numerous love stories.
However, the narrative takes a sharp and sobering turn in the second episode. Laura finds out she is pregnant just one week after meeting Rubén, a development that profoundly transforms everything. What initially seemed like a romantic partnership quickly falls apart when Rubén’s true nature emerges—a man struggling with alcohol addiction and unreliability. Forced to abandon her new life, Laura retreats to her family home, where she finds herself caught between appreciation for their backing and stifled by their closeness. The dream has collapsed, leaving her to grapple with the stark realities of single parenthood alone.
- Laura encounters Rubén at Sonar festival in Barcelona
- She becomes pregnant a week after their first meeting
- Rubén turns out to be an unreliable and alcohol-dependent partner
- Laura goes back to her family home with baby boy Mario
Gentrified Barcelona as Character and Crucible
As Laura works to establish a existence for both herself and Mario, Barcelona itself evolves into considerably more than a basic backdrop—it functions as a character both captivating and antagonistic, visually stunning yet fundamentally unwelcoming to those lacking significant financial resources. The city that previously enchanted her with its bohemian charm and artistic energy now exposes its reality: a city reshaped by relentless gentrification, where affordable housing has become a luxury beyond reach for regular working people. Every episode name cites a distinct area where Laura and Mario occupy, a constant reminder that home stays perpetually beyond reach. The series illustrates the harsh irony of a city brimming with wealth and tourism, yet completely indifferent to the circumstances of those unable to pay for fundamental housing.
The financial circumstances Laura faces are not overstated and entirely typical—they represent the lived experience of countless single parents across contemporary Spain and Europe. “Rent here is bloody insane,” she laments to an artist friend. “It’s virtually impossible to locate anything suitable.” His optimistic response—”Nothing’s impossible”—is met with her weary, vehement reply: “Flats in Barcelona are.” This exchange encapsulates the series’ unflinching treatment to financial difficulty, refusing to ease the impact or offer easy consolation. Barcelona becomes not a place of opportunity but a gauntlet through which Laura must contend, balancing her desperate need to earn money with her wish to remain present for her young son.
The Urban Area’s Contradictions
Barcelona’s metamorphosis serves as a reflection of wider European urban crises, where traditional districts are progressively reshaped into playgrounds for high-spending travellers and foreign investment firms. The city that once promised cultural vibrancy and real cultural experience now prices out the individuals who create its character and spirit. Laura’s situation is framed by this context of paradox—surrounded by affluence yet excluded from it, residing in one of Europe’s most sought-after urban centres whilst experiencing homelessness. The series refuses to romanticise this tension, instead showing it as the grinding, exhausting reality it actually represents for those caught in gentrification’s aftermath.
What makes “I Always Sometimes” distinctly powerful is its rooting in specific, recognisable Barcelona places that have themselves evolved as representations of the city’s shifting character. Each episode setting—from artist squats to makeshift solutions with understanding acquaintances—maps the geography of desperation, demonstrating the city’s most disadvantaged people are driven to its margins and forgotten corners. The contrast between Barcelona’s sparkling exterior and Laura’s unstable circumstances underscores the series’ main message: that present-day cities have grown progressively unwelcoming to everyday individuals, irrespective of their ability, commitment, or perseverance.
Creating Episodes Like Short Stories
The narrative sophistication of “I Always Sometimes” resides in its approach to serialised narrative, with each of the six episodes serving as a standalone story whilst advancing Laura’s broader arc. Spanning 22 and 35 minutes, the episodes reject traditional television pacing in preference for a literary approach, resembling short stories that explore different facets of single motherhood and urban precarity. This format allows filmmakers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza to develop character moments with nuance and depth, moving beyond the superficial resolutions that often plague modern TV drama. Rather than hurrying along plot mechanics, the series dwells upon the emotional texture of Laura’s daily existence.
Each episode’s title draws from a different setting where Laura and Mario temporarily reside, transforming geography into storytelling framework. This spatial organisation becomes a compelling narrative tool, tracing Laura’s social descent through the Barcelona landscape whilst concurrently revealing the unseen connections of solidarity and desperation that maintain those on society’s periphery. The close focus of these episodes—neither sprawling nor rushed—allows authentic examination of how financial stress seeps into every facet of daily living, from romantic relationships to maternal instinct. Bassols and Loza’s writing debut reveals a mature understanding of how structure and substance can intertwine to produce something deeply resonant.
- Episodes named for Laura’s temporary homes chart her precarious housing situation
- Running times vary between 22 and 35 minutes for adaptable storytelling rhythm
- Short story structure enables deeper character development and emotional impact
- Geographic locations become metaphors for economic displacement and social invisibility
- Series combines intimate moments with wider commentary of contemporary urban life
Visual Storytelling Across Six Worlds
The aesthetic approach of “I Always Sometimes” anchors its narrative in the distinct character of Barcelona’s forgotten corners. Rather than highlighting the city’s postcard vistas, cinematography focuses on tight apartments, creative communes, and the unglamorous streets where survival takes precedence over sightseeing. This deliberate aesthetic choice transforms Barcelona from tourist destination into a protagonist—one that is at once alluring yet unwelcoming, inviting yet rejecting. The camera work captures the claustrophobia of communal spaces and the weariness visible in Laura’s face as she manages motherhood without adequate support systems. Every shot reinforces the series’ central tension between the urban potential and its failure to fulfil.
Shot across various Barcelona settings, the series uses its visual palette to trace Laura’s emotional and financial situation. Airier, more spacious areas intermittently break up shadowy, restricted spaces, reflecting moments of hope amidst prevailing despair. The visual construction carefully builds each transient living space, rendering them genuine and inhabited rather than merely functional sets. This commitment to visual specificity applies to costume and styling, where Laura’s appearance subtly shifts to mirror her altered situation—a understated but powerful creative choice that illuminates how economic hardship transforms identity. The series establishes that personal narratives about common difficulties can reach cinematic depth without compromising emotional truth.
Redefining Motherhood on Screen
“I Sometimes Always” comes at a time when TV stories about motherhood have grown sanitized and sentimentalized. The show discards such romantic notions, portraying single parenthood as a relentless economic hardship rather than a source of inspirational uplift. Laura’s story eschews the traditional narrative of adversity-to-victory, instead providing a candid, unvarnished picture of what it means to raise a child whilst struggling to pay for housing or food. The show accepts that love for one’s child exists alongside genuine resentment towards the systems that leave parenting so unstable. By highlighting Laura’s exhaustion and frustration combined with her warmth, the series presents a more authentic portrayal of maternal experience—one that audiences seldom see in mainstream television.
The creative partnership between Bassols and Loza lends distinctive authenticity to this depiction. Both creators understand the specificity of Barcelona’s current challenges, having worked within the city’s creative environment. Their writing steers clear of the pitfalls of patronising depictions of poverty, instead allowing Laura agency and complexity within limited conditions. The series respects its protagonist’s intelligence and resilience without demanding she display appreciation for fundamental necessities. This nuanced approach extends to supporting characters, who emerge as fully realised individuals rather than simple hindrances or helpers. By treating single motherhood as worthy of serious artistic focus, “I Always Sometimes” questions the hierarchies that have historically favoured certain stories over others in television across Europe.
Economics and Authenticity
The dialogue crackles with specificity when Laura examines Barcelona’s lettings sector, converting economic frustration into compelling character moments. Her bitter observation—”Nothing’s impossible. Flats in Barcelona are”—embodies the series’ refusal to offer false hope or vapid platitudes. Rather than generalising hardship, the writing roots it in concrete details: the specific sum of rent demanded, the landlords who exploit desperation, the fragile freelance labour that barely covers childcare costs. This commitment to economic realism distinguishes “I Always Sometimes” from narratives that treat hardship as metaphorical or spiritually enriching. The series understands that financial precarity influences every choice in Laura’s day.
Authenticity extends beyond dialogue into the series’ structural choices. By titling remaining episodes after the places where Laura temporarily squats, the creators foreground housing as the central preoccupation of her life. This structural choice transforms geography into storytelling form, making displacement visible and inescapable. The episode titles serve as a countdown of sorts—each new location representing another temporary solution, another near-miss, another reminder of systemic failure. This approach sets apart the series from traditional television drama, which typically relegates economic concerns to emotional or romantic plotlines. “I Always Sometimes” insists that survival itself constitutes the narrative heart, that the hunt for affordable housing is as compelling as any traditional narrative conflict.
- Episode titles illustrate Laura’s transient housing situations throughout Barcelona
- Housing expenses and financial obstacles form the central dramatic tension of character progression
- Writing emphasises material reality over sentimental narratives about motherhood