03/04/2025 - The Spanish winner of the International Panorama at Series Mania breaks down his show, which proves just how scary taxes can be

(© The Mediapro Studio)

It was all about Celeste [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Diego San José
series profile] at Series Mania, crowned as the winner of the International Panorama (see the news), with a Special Mention going to Putain [+see also:
interview: Frederik Daem, Deben Van Dam
series profile]. It also earned Carmen Machi a Best Actress Award for her portrayal of a tax inspector relentlessly pursuing a pop star known as – you’ve guessed it – Celeste. We talked to Diego San José, the creator of this Movistar Plus+ original series directed by Elena Trapé.

Cineuropa: There’s some truth to it when your protagonist, Sara, says to her colleague: “Do you know why accountants end up together? Because no one likes us.” Why did you want to talk about them in particular?
Diego San José: I’ve always adored people who don’t feel loved – and those who are scared. Any story starring someone vulnerable has me rooting for them, hoping they will overcome their problems in the end. Nothing awakens more empathy in me than people who feel they’re not liked. We all feel that way sometimes. Or many times.

You’ve managed to make taxes interesting – it’s quite a feat. Was it hard to convince people it could work?
I was very lucky because both Movistar Plus+ and The Mediapro Studio understood, from the very first moment, that this was precisely what made this project original. We were turning taxes into something attractive: into an exciting plot. I can’t say it was difficult to convince them – they were on board from the very beginning. The difficult part came later, when I had to keep my promise to turn the IRPF [personal income tax payable in Spain] storyline into a gangster film.

Sara can be viewed as, well, scary. She’s lonely, but she also knows that she has real power because of her job, and she likes using it. How does she change in the show?
That’s what I love about Sara Santano: she’s not exactly a role model, but she’s not bad, either. She wants to do things right, but she’s willing to do them wrong. She’s terrifying because she’s rude and inquisitive, but then we see her alone in her house, and we can understand where that attitude comes from. I don’t think her essence changes, but she does free herself from some of her burdens. That allows her to be herself a bit more.

Casting was the easiest phase of the process because it was always Carmen Machi. In fact, I don’t know if Carmen Machi is Sara Santano or if it was the other way around. We had this challenge in mind: let’s write a character that makes us enjoy everything Carmen can offer as an actress. She’s the best: the best in drama and the best in comedy. Sara Santano is a suit tailored to Carmen’s talent, if that’s even possible.

Tax inspector versus pop star: do you think it’s also a story about jealousy?
I wouldn’t say “jealousy”, but I understand why you’re asking that. I think it’s a story about hurt, about being emotionally damaged because you’re missing someone. Celeste, Toni and Dani all have a moment to explain that they’ve suffered because of that aspect of their lives. I think the series is also about that: about the sadness of being brilliant at your job but a wreck when you go home and there’s no one waiting there.

It's her last tax inspection, she says. Action heroes, spies – they always go on “one last mission”. Did you want to play with that cliché?
Sure! We always had a compass in our hands, leading us in one direction. We said to ourselves: “Let’s tell this story as if it were a thriller.” Whenever we had any doubts, we would ask: “Okay, how would it play out if, instead of a tax inspection, it was a Sidney Lumet movie?” Using thriller clichés in a thriller can be conventional, but using the same tropes in a tax inspection story seemed like a mix of ingredients we really wanted to try.

We are talking about a historic win for Spain at Series Mania, also with Querer [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
series profile]. Do you think it’s a good moment for Spanish shows? Are they taking big risks?
There was only one way to enhance the joy of winning this award, and that was to be in the photos with our colleagues from Querer. Anyone who looks at the Series Mania winners’ list will think the same thing we still have difficulties processing: our series are on par with what is produced in countries which we thought were better at making fiction. Now we just need to believe it ourselves.