Calparsoro returns to portray the world of drug trafficking in Operation Black Tide

In November 2019, the Civil Guard captured an old legend that ran among the state security forces and bodies.

He wasn't a drug lord or the most wanted criminal, but he had been talked about for a long time.

He was a narco-submarine who confirmed the fears of the authorities: traffickers sent drugs from America to Europe in

that, miraculously, crossed the Atlantic with tons of cocaine.

In that operation, the Benemérita detained three people.

One of them was a

who, fed up with hardships, sought to obtain large amounts of money thanks to his skill with a rudder.

His adventures served to inspire a book by journalist

and the first season of Operación Marea Negra, a four-episode series on Amazon Prime and Ficción Producciones.

The story was so successful that both the production company and the platform and

, the director at the head of the production (and in whose second season Igor Legarreta also participates), decided to shoot a sequel.

The second season, which premieres on February 10, sets foot on solid ground and abandons the real events.

The action takes place two years after the capture of the submarine in a story that is 100% fictional but that maintains a trail of reality.

Calparsoro acknowledges to EL MUNDO.

Jorge López and Nerea Barros in a scene from the series.PRIME VIDEO

The plot introduces, thanks to Calparsoro, an element that gradually seeps into headlines, chronicles and reports:

.

It is "something unknown in Spain", according to Mamen Quintas, producer of the series.

The story also represents a change in the very conception of the series.

The first season is "a series of adventures", explains the Catalan director, while the second has "double games and betrayals".

It is "a

", sums up the director, who has several films of this genre in his filmography.

There is violence, yes, because "violence is a language," adds Calparsoro.

And in

, where another part of the story takes place, and in the world of drug trafficking there is a lot.

"But it's not a violent series," insists the filmmaker because "reality is always stranger than fiction."

To develop this plot, the producers had to overcome an obstacle.

, the actor who plays Nando, the protagonist of the series, did not renew for the second part and they had to find a replacement.

, a Chilean actor who had already participated in other series with Elite, was the chosen candidate to give life to a new Nando.

Óscar Jaenada, one of the new additions to the cast.PRIME VIDEO

Both the producer

and Calparsoro downplay the face change, something "common" in other countries like the US: "You just have to see the Batman saga," they give as an example.

"We never wanted it to be the same," Quintas explains.

The change, far from seeming like a handicap, was an opportunity to show the "evolution of the protagonist", comments Calparsoro: "A few years have passed and he is another person".

The presence of López, a star in the Latin market, also opens a "fan to a very different and very broad target in Latin America," adds Quintas.

The Chilean actor arrived at the production just two weeks in advance.

A challenge that he addressed with his teachings in the

.

"When you study acting, sometimes there are six characters that are shared among 25 classmates," he explains to EL MUNDO.

With this background, López 'inherits' the character of González and makes it his own, adding "his own record and journey" to create his own Nando from him.

Opposite López is

, who repeats her character, without an alter ego in real life, and gains presence in the second season: "Gema has changed and in that the new Nando has affected. A Nando that Jorge proposes and that It is by script very different from the first season".

The cast is also expanded with other characters.

plays Muro, an imprisoned Mexican drug trafficker.

The experience of a friend who lived this up close helped the Catalan actor to understand what it was like to be in prison and "feel like a locked-up guy."

They also join

(Stockholm in La Casa de Papel), a lawyer "who has morally questionable interests and concerns",

and

.

They repeat from the previous season Luis Zahera, Manuel Manquiña, Carles Francino, Xosé Barato, Miquel Insua and the Brazilians Leandro Firmino and Bruno Gagliasso.

Other characters

Both in the first and in this second season, the "

has provided significant support" to the series, explains Calparsoro.

The advice provided by the body has helped the scriptwriters build plots, characters and actions.

"This information is very valuable," explains Quintas, "it makes what is happening very real."

In some cases, his role goes

and is reflected in front of the screen.

"There are several arrests and they are all real, none is an extra," adds the producer about the participation of various agents in scenes from the series.

Another key to the series is the prison in which part of the chapters take place.

The initial idea of ​​the production team was to shoot in one of the

in Spain.

Discarded the one in Segovia - "we have already burned all the prison plans" - the option was Soria, but it was discarded due to bureaucratic obstacles.

The solution was to create your own.

The

was converted in just a month and a half into a real prison.

More than 1,000 square meters with "platforms, cells, sentry boxes, commissary"... The effort has been such that the prison has now become another set where more fiction can be filmed.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• The Money Heist

• Civil Guard

• Amazon Prime Video

• Series