Barcelona’s housing shortage and the challenges of single motherhood take centre stage in “I Always Sometimes,” an compelling new drama series that premiered on Movistar Plus+ on 23 April before premiering internationally at Canneseries on 25 April. Created by writers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza, the six-part half-hour series follows Laura, a woman navigating motherhood whilst attempting to secure reasonably priced accommodation in a gentrified city. Produced by celebrated filmmakers Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo—known for “Veneno” and “La Mesías”—the drama offers a touching yet unflinching exploration of contemporary financial struggle and the emotional turmoil of young adulthood, anchoring its story in the very real challenges facing lone parents across modern Spain.
A Tale of Love That Commences Where Happy Endings Diminish
The series begins with a whirlwind romance that feels destined for success. Laura, a events coordinator from Berlin, encounters Rubén, a Barcelona bar proprietor, at the city’s prestigious Sonar music festival. Their bond is immediate and intoxicating—they spend nights wandering Barcelona’s streets, quoting Rilke to one another, attending raves on Montjuïc, and sharing intimate experiences in chic venues. When Rubén suggests that Laura move in with him, the future appears bright and full of possibility, 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 learns that 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 parents’ house, where she finds herself trapped between gratitude for their support and suffocation from their presence. The dream has fallen apart, leaving her to face the harsh realities of single parenthood alone.
- Laura encounters Rubén at Sonar festival in Barcelona
- She becomes pregnant a week after their first meeting
- Rubén proves to be an unreliable and alcohol-dependent partner
- Laura goes back to her family home with infant son Mario
Barcelona’s Gentrification as Character and Crucible
As Laura attempts to create a life for herself and Mario, Barcelona itself evolves into considerably more than a basic backdrop—it emerges as a character both seductive and hostile, beautiful yet fundamentally hostile to those without substantial means. The city that previously enchanted her with its bohemian character and creative vitality now exposes its reality: a urban centre altered by relentless gentrification, where reasonably priced housing has become a privilege beyond reach for ordinary working people. Every episode title references a distinct area where Laura and Mario squat, a persistent reminder that home stays perpetually beyond reach. The series illustrates the harsh irony of a city flooded with riches and tourism, yet completely indifferent to the circumstances of those unable to pay for fundamental housing.
The economic realities Laura encounters are neither exaggerated nor exceptional—they reflect the lived experience of numerous lone parents across modern-day Spain and Europe. “Rent here is bloody insane,” she complains to an creative acquaintance. “It’s virtually impossible to find anything.” His hopeful reply—”Nothing’s impossible”—is met with her exhausted, forceful reply: “Flats in Barcelona are.” This exchange captures the series’ unflinching treatment to financial difficulty, declining to soften the blow or offer easy consolation. Barcelona transforms into not a place of opportunity but a gauntlet through which Laura must contend, balancing her desperate need to generate income with her desire to remain present for her young son.
The Urban Area’s Paradoxes
Barcelona’s metamorphosis serves as a reflection of broader European metropolitan problems, where traditional districts are progressively reshaped into destinations for affluent visitors and foreign investment firms. The city that once offered creative vitality and real cultural experience now displaces financially the very people who shape its essence and cultural heart. Laura’s plight is framed by this context of paradox—living amid affluence yet excluded from it, based in one of Europe’s most sought-after urban centres whilst experiencing homelessness. The series resists sentimentalising this contradiction, instead presenting it as the grinding, exhausting reality it actually represents for people experiencing the aftermath of gentrification.
What makes “I Always Sometimes” distinctly powerful is its rooting in specific, recognisable Barcelona places that have themselves become symbols of the city’s evolving nature. Each episode’s setting—from creative collectives to informal living situations with supportive companions—maps the geography of desperation, showing how the city’s most at-risk residents are forced towards its peripheries and overlooked spaces. The contrast between Barcelona’s polished surface and Laura’s fragile situation highlights the series’ core premise: that contemporary urban centres have become increasingly inhospitable to everyday individuals, irrespective of their ability, commitment, or perseverance.
Writing Episodes Like Short Stories
The narrative sophistication of “I Always Sometimes” lies in its method of handling episodic storytelling, with each of the six episodes serving as a self-contained narrative whilst advancing Laura’s broader arc. Running between 22 and 35 minutes, the episodes reject conventional TV rhythm in favour of a literary approach, resembling short stories that examine various aspects of single motherhood and urban precarity. This structure allows filmmakers Marta Bassols and Marta Loza to develop scenes between characters with subtlety and complexity, transcending the surface-level conclusions that frequently affect modern TV drama. Rather than rushing towards narrative devices, the series lingers on the emotional texture of Laura’s everyday life.
Each episode’s title alludes to a different location where Laura and Mario stay for a time, converting geography into narrative form. This geographical mapping becomes a compelling narrative tool, mapping Laura’s economic decline through Barcelona’s landscape whilst simultaneously revealing the unseen connections of collective support and struggle that sustain those on society’s periphery. The intimate scale of these episodes—neither sprawling nor hurried—enables authentic examination of how financial stress permeates every aspect of existence, from romantic relationships to maternal instinct. Bassols and Loza’s writing debut reveals a sophisticated grasp of how form and content can intertwine to generate something deeply resonant.
- Episodes named for Laura’s transient residences document her precarious housing situation
- Running times vary between 22 and 35 minutes for adaptable storytelling rhythm
- Episodic format enables more profound character exploration and emotional impact
- Geographic locations function as metaphors for financial instability and social marginalisation
- Series balances personal scenes with broader critiques of modern city living
Visual Storytelling Throughout Six Different 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, the camera work captures cramped flats, creative communes, and the ordinary neighbourhoods where survival takes precedence over sightseeing. This deliberate aesthetic choice transforms Barcelona from holiday hotspot into a protagonist—one that is simultaneously alluring yet unwelcoming, welcoming and exclusionary. The cinematography captures the sense of confinement of communal spaces and the weariness visible in Laura’s face as she navigates motherhood lacking proper assistance. Every frame reinforces the series’ central tension between the city’s promise and its refusal to deliver.
Shot across multiple Barcelona venues, the series uses its visual palette to document Laura’s emotional and financial situation. Brighter, more open spaces intermittently break up darker, confined interiors, capturing moments of possibility amid persistent despair. The production design precisely crafts each makeshift residence, making them feel realistic and worn rather than merely functional sets. This attention to visual detail extends to costume and styling, where Laura’s visual presentation evolves to mirror her altered situation—a understated but powerful storytelling choice that speaks to how financial struggle transforms identity. The series demonstrates that intimate dramas about common difficulties can reach cinematic depth without compromising emotional truth.
Transforming Motherhood on Screen
“I Always Sometimes” arrives at a point when TV stories about motherhood have become cleaned up and romanticised. The drama strips away such romantic notions, presenting single parenthood as a grinding economic reality rather than a source of inspirational uplift. Laura’s journey eschews the traditional narrative of struggle-to-triumph, instead offering a candid, unvarnished picture of what it involves to care for a child whilst struggling to pay for housing or food. The show accepts that affection for one’s child coexists with genuine resentment towards the structures that leave parenting so uncertain. By highlighting Laura’s fatigue and irritation alongside her tenderness, the series models a more authentic portrayal of maternal experience—one that viewers seldom see in mainstream television.
The collaborative effort between Bassols and Loza lends particular authenticity to this portrayal. Both creators grasp the particular nuances of Barcelona’s contemporary struggles, having worked within the city’s cultural landscape. Their writing avoids the traps of patronising depictions of poverty, rather granting Laura depth and autonomy within limited conditions. The series honours its lead character’s intellect and determination without demanding she perform gratitude for fundamental necessities. This nuanced approach extends to supporting characters, who stand as fully realised individuals rather than simple hindrances or helpers. By approaching 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.
Economic Factors and Authenticity
The dialogue crackles with specificity when Laura explores Barcelona’s lettings sector, converting economic frustration into gripping character moments. Her sharp remark—”Nothing’s impossible. Flats in Barcelona are”—encapsulates the series’ rejection of false hope or empty reassurance. Rather than treating poverty abstractly, the writing grounds it in concrete details: the specific sum of rent demanded, the landlords who take advantage of need, the unstable casual employment that hardly pays for childcare costs. This commitment to economic realism distinguishes “I Always Sometimes” from stories that depict hardship as figurative or transcendent. 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 locations where Laura temporarily squats, the creators prioritise housing as the primary concern of her life. This formal decision transforms geography into storytelling form, making displacement visible and inescapable. The episode titles serve as a countdown of sorts—each new location representing another provisional arrangement, another close call, another indication 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 conventional dramatic tension.
- Episode titles reflect Laura’s transient housing situations across Barcelona
- Housing expenses and financial obstacles form the dramatic backbone of character development
- Writing prioritises material reality over sentimental narratives about motherhood