Despite Spanish being the second most common language in the world, with an estimated 474.7 million native speakers worldwide, finding Spanish-language shows with authentic LGBTQ+ representation can be a challenge. We’ve compiled a list of 10 shows that explore queer life beyond the white, English-speaking world, providing viewers with realistic, valid, and entertaining queer experiences, storylines, and characters.

If you’re looking for something new to binge, consider checking out these titles. Do it for the plot!

Los Espookys

Queer icons Julio Torres and Fred Armisen cross queer culture with spooky, year-round Halloween energy in this series set in Latin America. The show follows a group of friends that turn their love for all-things espooky, into a business. The quirkiest character is probably queer comedian Ana Frabega, who plays Tati and is the show’s third creative genius. Tati is a dim-witted, but lovable girl on the quest to find her next strange job and who ends up marrying a gay man. 

Juana Inez

This biography series takes viewers back to the Early Colonial Period to explore early attempts at queer liberation and the fight for women to have access to education. 

Inez is a nun who is constantly on the pursuit of knowledge, even breaking boundaries the Catholic Church set during the time that limited women from educational texts.

Known as a queer historical icon who wrote love poems to the queen, she deserves recognition as a patron saint for her relentless fight against the Catholic Church and the Spaniard monarchy that held control over indigenous people in Mexico. 

Locked Up

Fans of Orange is the New Black will enjoy this one. Macarena (Maggie Civantos) goes into a seven-year prison sentence as a straight woman who was framed by her boyfriend. Though the show is compared to OITNB, the genres they fall under are different –OITNB is more of a dramedy, while Locked Up is more of a thrilling crime drama. You have five seasons to get wrapped up in the drama and maybe learn a thing or two about the ills of trusting straight men. 

Against the Ropes

Produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, this show is based in Tlaltepec, Mexico and centers around Ángela (Caraly Sánchez), a recently incarcerated woman seeking justice against those who framed her.

Ángela takes on an alter ego to go into the ring and fight for her daughter’s approval after a fallout in their relationship. The show’s queer representation is small but consistent with one of Ángela’s closest friends falling into the all-too-relatable “Help! I’ve fallen for a straight girl!” spiral. 

Though the main love triangle in the show is cis-hetero, the overall show is very queer-coded and includes a lot of woman-on-woman wrestling. 

Betty La Fea, La Historia Continua

This 2024 revamp of the original series follows Beatríz (Ána María Orozco) through the endless highs and lows of working in the corporate world while also trying to balance love, life, and being a feminist who refuses to uphold the toxic beauty standards in the fashion world.

The OG show made history in the early 2000s, being deemed “The most successful telenovela in history” by Guinness World Records. 

The reboot brings back Hugo (Julian Arango), better known as Hugito, as the over-the-top flamboyant gay to fill the fashion diva trope. It also finally acknowledges Marcela’s (Sandra Patiño) queerness. She was always the tall, awkward, receptionist and member of the “cartel de feas” who never followed suit when the other chismosas would gather to lust over hot men. Now we know why!

Love Never Lies: Destination Sardinia

Tune in to see a show that does what Love is Blind is too afraid to do! This series effortlessly incorporates queer relationships in a messy reality show that uses artificial intelligence through an eye-detect test and prize money as a leverage against uncovering their partners true motives. It also brings in surprise love interests from the six couple’s lives, as an ultimate test to their trust and self-control. This show has no chill. From the very beginning, the couple’s trust is put through the ringer.  

Paquita Salas

If you like The Office, Parks and Recreation or Abbott Elementary, you’re sure to appreciate this Spanish-language take with lots of LGBTQ+ characters and conversations about queerness. 

Paquita, played by queer actor Brays Efe, is here to serve looks and judgements as she tackles the ins and outs of being a business bitch at her acting management company, PS Management. 

This show’s queer representation is also sure to spark conversations among older generations of Spanish-speaking people, so throw it on for your loving but homophobic abuela and maybe it’ll be a simple and unforgettable segway into your coming out story. 

Smiley

This series was shamefully canceled after just one season and we’re still not over it! The show follows Alex (Carlos Cuevas) and centers around issues that are common in the Grindr gay male dating world. Set in Barcelona, the characters have to navigate awkward meetups, failed talking stages, and bad hookups in their searches for true love. 

Gentefied

This one’s set against the backdrop of Boyle Heights, featuring real issues like evictions, rent hikes, gentrification, and the internal battle between whether to fight for or leave the hood. The show is in both Spanish and English, but features Spanish-speaking, older generations and younger generation ‘no sabo,’ kids. The queer representation comes from main characters Ana (Karrie Martin) and her girlfriend Yessika (Julissa Calderon), following Ana’s journey in becoming the artist she always dreamed of becoming, but at an unexpected price. 

Club De Cuervos

This Mexican dramedy features LGBTQ+ characters in their journey to navigate professional and personal lives in the soccer world. Chava (Luis Gerardo Mendez) is pitted against his half-sister Isabelle (Mariana Trevino) and forced to take on the role of president for his family’s soccer team Cuervos F.C., after their father dies.

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