From Montalbano to Savastanos: The circulation of Italian crime dramas in Spain

This article seeks to map the Italian crime dramas broadcast in Spain. Then we move on to the twenty-first century to analyse the scope of Italian TV crime in contemporary Spanish TV. As case studies for our investigation, we use the circulation and reception in Spain of two Italian series: Il commissario Montalbano ( El comisario Montalbano , Inspector Montalbano ) (1999–2021) and Gomorra – La serie ( Gomorra, Gomorrah ) (2014–21). Using a political economy approach, we first examine the reception of the literary sources by Andrea Camilleri and Roberto Saviano. Second, we contextualize the significant shifts in the Spanish media landscape where those series were broadcast. Third, we determine why and how these TV series were useful and appealing to Spanish programmers. The research is complemented with audience data, an analysis of the series’ aesthetics and their critical reception.