La Moderna will introduce new characters in the coming days who will accompany viewers each afternoon in the new daily drama on La 1, expanding its storylines.
In the episode airing next Monday the 16th, we will meet Manuel Velasco, a handsome student who will rent a room in Matilde’s house. The character, played by Kino Gil, joins the series alongside a new shop assistant, Laurita, played by Berta Galo.
A few episodes later, in episode 21—scheduled for Monday the 23rd of October—the audience will meet Fernando Collado (Juan Betancourt), one of the most fashionable actors of the 1930s, who regularly visits the tea room.
New characters overview
Laurita (Berta Galo) is Don Fermín’s niece and will end up working at La Moderna. She dreams of a luxurious life and traveling the world with a handsome man—ideally a Hollywood actor—but achieving her goals will not be easy.
Fernando Collado (Juan Betancourt) is vain, narcissistic, and somewhat boastful. He is tall, attractive, and admired by many women. He is one of the era’s most popular actors and becomes a regular at La Moderna, where he meets Laurita and begins to seduce her, leading her to fall in love—with complicated consequences.
Manuel Velasco (Kino Gil) is a young, educated, kind but somewhat frustrated man, closely attached to his widowed mother. He rents a room in Matilde’s house and quickly earns the trust and affection of those around him. Without realizing it, he begins to fall in love with Matilde while hiding the real, darker reason for his arrival.
‘La Moderna’
La Moderna takes viewers to 1930s Madrid and the stories of employees and customers of an elegant, centrally located tea room. Based on the novel Tea Rooms by Luisa Carnés, after its prime-time debut it now airs Monday to Friday on La 1, before La Promesa.
Co-produced by RTVE and Mediawan with the participation of Boomerang TV, La Moderna is filmed in real locations from early 20th-century Madrid, as well as in over 2,500 m² of studio sets recreating the tea room, a grand shopping arcade, and the protagonists’ homes in a traditional courtyard building. Music plays an important role, and its main theme is performed by Pastora Soler and composed by Tony Sánchez-Ohlsson.
Helena Ezquerro, Stéphanie Magnin, and Almagro San Miguel form the central trio of the series, alongside other notable cast members such as Miryam Gallego, José Luis García-Pérez, Teresa Hurtado de Ory, and Sara Rivero. They are joined by Llorenç González, Berta Castañé, and Bárbara Mestanza, among a large ensemble cast.
The series is led by Luis Santamaría and Humberto Miró, with direction by Liliana Bocanegra, Isaac Cantero, Pedro Martínez, and David Montoya. The writing team, coordinated by Carlos Martín Eguía and Joaquín Santamaría, includes Miquel Peidró, José Antonio López (Kata), Remedios Crespo, Ignasi Rubio, Juan Manuel Beiro, Ángela Armero, Neus Peidró, Sergio Barrejón, José Ángel Domínguez, and Laura Molpeceres.