HBO Max-Domingo Corral Deal: What It Could Mean For Spain

For the second time in a year, ex-Movistar Plus+ fiction and entertainment head Domingo Corral is moving waves, this time round signing an exclusive first-look overall TV deal with HBO Max

By John Hopewell

John Hopewell

Chief International Correspondent

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Early last May, nearly 150 of the good and great in Spain’s film and TV industries led by Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and Alejandro Amenábar signed a joint  open letter expressing their gratitude to Domingo Corral,  who has just been removed by giant Spanish telco Telefónica as the director of fiction and entertainment of Movistar Plus+, the biggest Spanish pay TV/SVOD service. 

They also expressed their concern about the future of Movistar Plus+ which under Corral’s groundbreaking creative stewardship came to produce series and films that placed Spain on an international stage scoring just in 2025 the top prize at Series Mania – Alauda Ruíz de Azúa’s “Querer” – and a top prize at Cannes – Oliver Laxe’s Jury Prize laureate  “Sirāt” which went on to garner two Oscar nominations. Movistar Plus+ won the top plaudit again at September’s San Sebastián – with “Sundays,” once more from Ruíz de Azúa. 

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