• Raquel Sánchez Silva "It's the first time I feel that a situation is going to pass over me"
  • Direct witness This is how El Conquistador is recorded in the Dominican Republic, the "most extreme" adventure reality show on television

After a long period of secrecy, with a staggered presentation of its contestants on their social networks and a change of day in the MasterChef broadcast that aroused some questions, RTVE has confirmed this Friday that its great reality TV bet, El Conquistador, will premiere on Monday with a double emission, following the model of the last edition of the cooking talent.

El Conquistador, the most extreme adventure contest, produced by RTVE in collaboration with Hostoil (The Mediapro Studio), is a show with the wild nature of the Caribbean as a stage, which reaches national public television endorsed by the 19 consecutive seasons of success in the Basque Country, where it is a real social phenomenon with enormous repercussion among young people.

Raquel Sánchez Silva and Julian Iantzi are the presenters of the program and lead an expedition of 33 adventurers captained by athletes Joana Pastrana, Patxi Salinas and Cesc Escolà. The creators of this unique format are Patxi Alonso, who also serves as executive producer, and Joxan Goñi, director.

The Conqueror tests the physical and mental strength of the contestants. Divided into three teams, Atabey (girls), Yocachu (boys) and Corocote (mixed), the participants will have to mix cunning, desire to excel and sportsmanship to face challenges as arduous as original, if they want to win the 100,000 euros of the prize. All this in the middle of a wild nature and an extreme climate, where the absence of food and lack of sleep are a challenge for coexistence.

A team of 250 people has recorded the program in the rugged landscapes of Los Haitises National Park (Dominican Republic). A paradisiacal scenario framed in the Bay of Samaná, where beaches, keys, mangroves, mountains and caverns with surprising fauna and flora are found. In such a scenario, the program team has strictly complied with an exhaustive regulation so that respect for the natural environment was exquisite.

The 33 heroes of 'The Conqueror'

The 33 contestants from different parts of Spain have very varied occupations and hobbies. In El Conquistador their true personalities, their illusions and their frustrations will emerge.

Among the athletes, Mireia Cabañes, a Valencian surfer who lost a leg as a child, stands out. She has reached the top of her discipline and achieved in 2022 the title of champion of Spain and runner-up of the parasurfing world. David Seco is another of the expert athletes who has been crowned as champion of Spain of cyclocross on several occasions. Seco is also a veteran in this contest, which he won in the eighth season and where he also served as captain in five editions.

In addition to athletes, there are students, officials, hospitality professionals, personal trainers, a dancer, a model, a soldier, a butcher, a street sweeper and even a nomadic baker, among others. The program has not forgotten the influencer world either, represented by Carmen Estéfano (Trimadre) or the brothers Pao and Mario Ramírez (Kerosene and Finito).

The debate, with Paula Vázquez and Marc Calderó

The first national edition of El Conquistador incorporates a weekly debate program that will analyze what happened in the previous broadcast of the contest.

It will be a live debate carried out from the RTVE studios in Sant Cugat and presented by Paula Vázquez, who has returned this summer to La 1 with El puente de las mentiras, and Marc Calderó, co-presenter of Hablando claro throughout last season.

They will be in charge of these programs that will offer extra content to the followers of El Conquistador and will analyze what happened in the contest, with the participation of its protagonists.

  • RTVE