Netflix’s Valeria is seen as a Spanish version of Sex and the City based in Madrid instead of New York. It’s almost a parallel remake – save for some very modern updates and powerful storylines, focused on self-love and female friendships that take it to an entirely new level. It’s also an adaptation of Elisabeth Benovent’s novel, En Los Zapatos De Valeria.
Valeria kicks off with our protagonist and series namesake Valeria at a pivotal point in her life – she’s a writer who isn’t writing, in an unsatisfying marriage with her husband and partner of 10 years, Adrián. We quickly meet the other people in her life, a supportive and largely warm group of female friends: Lola, the free-spirited one whose physical-first relationships she wears with a badge of honor, Nerea, the serious but well-meaning lawyer who is cautiously searching for love, and Carmen, the sweet and innocent, hopeless romantic infatuated with her coworker Borja.
By the end of the first episode, Valeria’s discontent with her life reaches a breaking point thanks to the introduction of someone who is clearly going to be a leading man: Victor. He’s handsome, he’s smooth, and he’s obviously interested in Valeria from their first exchange of looks. As we later learn, he’s also trouble.
The series then goes on for the next three seasons as the group of friends navigate life, love, and friendship – all together, all the time. As the seasons go on, we see the women become more empowered, more confident, and eventually fall into place with their chosen partners. At times, the focus on self-love becomes more of the main character than Valeria herself.
There are a lot of powerful moments in this show that highlight the importance of female friendship and connection. I was moved to tears when the girls rallied around Valeria following her divorce and cheered along with them when Lola finally cut off her situationship with the married Sergio once and for all. I understood too well when Valeria keeps trying to work things out with the emotionally unavailable Victor, and also when Nerea faces her feelings for the most unconventional woman she’s ever met.
Every character’s plotline contains a high level of relatability, with the overarching themes of self-love and the power of community running through it all. Valeria makes her home in her friends, which is obvious by her ability to be honest with them – even when it comes to her toxic on-again-off-again relationship with the aforementioned Victor, whose avoidance of commitment becomes a recurring theme in the dynamic he has with Valeria.
We later meet someone who seems to be endgame for Valeria: the emotionally mature and stable Bruno, a fellow writer who also makes his interest in Valeria clear from the beginning. No games, no back and forth – Bruno even gives her a pass to finish what she has with Victor before deciding who she wants to be with. Valeria takes it and learns yet again that Victor is not willing to commit. Ultimately, she learns that “el amor real sana” (real love heals) from her beloved friends and not the men in her life.
Valeria is a love letter to love itself, whether platonic or romantic. It highlights the real beauty we can find in ourselves once we learn to embrace love in all its forms. It’s a must-watch for any woman feeling a little lost because each character has the opportunity to make you feel seen and understood. There’s so much growth in how Lola learns to love fully, making herself vulnerable to the much younger Rai, how Carmen’s relationship with Borja is strengthened by her successes, and how Valeria herself learns the power of choosing a healthy dynamic with Bruno vs the toxic up and downs of Victor.
Valeria teaches about what it is to be human: We often say things we don’t mean, our actions don’t match our words, and our hearts lead before our minds, but some things, like real friends and ourselves, don’t leave us. Not in our times of need or through broken hearts – in fact, they’re often the very same things that keep us together.
Though the show concluded beautifully with the end of season three, it looks like more remains to come with Valeria as it was recently renewed by Netflix for its fourth and final season, with filming underway. I can’t wait to see what fresh drama arrives – and how our favorite four women stick together through it all.
