The fine line between recklessness and heroism lies in small details. Transatlantic voyages such as those of Christopher Columbus or Magellan are world history passed down from generation to generation. The trip of the Galician Agustín Álvarez, in November 2019, is not very different except for the end. His carbon fiber semi-submersible was not much more resistant than a fifteenth century caravel and he embarked on it with two other men,

crossed the Atlantic locked in a claustrophobic space with hardly any food and water

and after 21 days he reached the Galician coast .

They could be heroes from a history book except for the small detail that they were carrying 3,000 kilos of cocaine, which obscures the feat. That,

the one of the first narco-submarine intercepted in Europe

, is the material that Daniel Calparsoro handles for his

Operation Black Tide,

the first joint production between Spain and Portugal of Amazon Prime, which has just closed its filming, in which EL MUNDO was, in the Galician town of Aguiño, where it was filmed for four days.

"Doing all this journey is commendable in some way.

If they had transported tulips, it would look different

," explains the Catalan director about an 8,000-kilometer journey between Brazil and the Azores, which ended up on the Galician coast with three detained crew members. a trial already about to begin and some admiration even from the Civil Guard. Everything was an anecdote, until an investigative journalist, Javier Romero, contacted Ficción Producciones to bring it to the screen.

As the research was jointly carried out by Spain, Portugal, Italy, Colombia and several other countries, the adaptation "could not be told only from Galicia," says the producer Mamen Quintas, because it would have gaps. That is where the collaboration with Portugal appeared, which was followed by the yes of Calparsoro, who contributed his spectacular vision of the action, far from the documentary tone, on a project that will see the light in early 2022, as this newspaper has learned. "It is incredible, it

coordinates boats, helicopters and explosions, while it notices if you have the lapel correctly placed

or do not contribute enough emotion", affirms the protagonist, Álex González.

The Madrid actor is the Galician Agustín Álvarez and Leandro Firmino and David Trejos, his two companions, who have gone from being two Ecuadorians to a Colombian and a Brazilian.

"This is out of the normal concept of hitman and murderer, which because of my nationality I have had to do several times. Here I have been able to take the character to all its dimensions," Trejos details.

Although they are now delighted with the project, the psychological and physical preparation to get into an exact replica of the original, 20 meters in length, was complex.

"

I had to hire a swimming teacher for the filming in the open sea

," admits Firmino.

The 20-meter-long submarine where different scenes from the Amazon series were filmed

The almost non-existent northern summer of this year has also contributed the credible tone to a gloomy fiction full of risks. "Imagine all this in a sunny environment, it would look like the French Riviera," says Calparsoro, who during filming had to direct actors and pilots. Because

the Civil Guard contributed helicopters, boats or royal patrol boats

from their reserve. "It is a spectacle to see him shouting at the vehicles," they point out from the filming team.

This added to the fiction a technical challenge to the already known world of the mafias, which in this fiction faced the novelty of the method, at least in Europe. This was not the only submarine that made a similar trip, in Latin America the police forces have already hunted several, but it was the first intercepted crossing the Atlantic. "

Drugs are one of the largest businesses in the world along with arms and oil

, if we don't know more, it is because we don't want people from high places and are involved. But in this case, the audacity and novelty of transporting them in a submarine, "explains Calparsoro.

To fully understand the real case that occurred in 2019, along with the series, Amazon Prime will also premiere a documentary that will address the official statements and the faithful stories of the protagonists for those who want to know their flesh and blood involved.

"

We leave the end open because there is much to tell.

The more we investigate, the more we have. The trial will come out in November or December, and from there, we are considering a next season," says Mamen Quintas.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Galicia

  • Civil Guard

  • Spain

  • Colombia

  • Brazil

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