HBO greenlights first Spanish original

European pay TV broadcaster HBO Europe has expanded its slate of originals with a first commission in Spain, an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Fernando Aramburu.

Patria, published in 2016, is set over 30 years in the Spanish Basque country and follows two families divided by the bitter separatist conflict in the region.

The eight-part TV drama will be written and produced by Aitor Gabilondo and directed by Pablo Trapero and Félix Viscarret.

Alea Media, the prodco launched in 2017 by Spanish broadcaster Mediaset and showrunner Gabilondo, is behind the project, which will start shooting in northern Spain early next year and premiere in 2020.

Antony Root, executive VP of original programming and production at HBO Europe, said: “A personal, human story that unfolds against the backdrop of political violence in the Basque country, and which explores themes of grief, community and forgiveness, Patria is at once acutely local and affectingly universal.”

The series is an HBO Europe Original Production, with the participation of HBO Latin America.