Best Spanish history movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch history films from Spain, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
Society of the Snow 2023
On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to take a rugby team to Chile, crashes into a glacier in the heart of the Andes.
79The Photographer of Mauthausen 2018
Spanish photographer Francesc Boix, imprisoned in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, works in the SS Photographic Service. Between 1943 and 1945, he hides, with the help of other prisoners, thousands of negatives, with the purpose of showing the freed world the atrocities committed by the Nazis, exhaustively documented. He will be a key witness during the Nuremberg Trials.
70Ronaldo 2015
Filmed over 14 months with unprecedented access into the inner circle of the man and the sport, this is the first official and fully authorised film of one of the most celebrated figures in football. For the first time ever, the world gets vividly candid and un-paralleled, behind-closed-doors access to the footballer, father, family-man and friend in this moving & fascinating documentary. Through in-depth conversations, state of the art football footage and never before seen archival footage, the film gives an astonishing insight into the sporting and personal life of triple Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo at the peak of his career. From the makers of ‘Senna’ and ‘Amy’, Ronaldo takes audiences on an intimate and revealing journey of what it’s like to live as an iconic athlete in the eye of the storm.
64Palm Trees in the Snow 2015
Spain, 2003. An accidental discovery leads Clarence to travel from the snowy mountains of Huesca to Equatorial Guinea, to visit the land where her father Jacobo and her uncle Kilian spent most of their youth, the island of Fernando Poo.
74The Red Virgin 2024
Hildegart is conceived and educated by her mother Aurora to be the woman of the future, to become one of the most brilliant minds of Spain in the 1930s and one of the European references on female sexuality.
71While at War 2019
Salamanca, Spain, 1936. In the early days of the military rebellion that began the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), writer Miguel de Unamuno supports the uprising in the hope that the prevailing political chaos will end. But when the confrontation becomes bloody, Unamuno must question his initial position.
72The Endless Trench 2019
A small village in Huelva, Andalusia, Spain, 1936. Higinio and Rosa have been married only for a few months when the Civil War breaks out. Higinio, being afraid of possible reprisals from the rebel faction, decides to use a hole dug in his own house as a temporary hideout.
73Coven 2020
French Basque Country, year 1609. The men of a small fishing village have gone to sea. Judge Rostegui, who has been charged by the king with ridding the country of the devil's wiles, arrests Ana and her friends and accuses them of witchcraft.
64The Teacher Who Promised the Sea 2023
Ariadna discovers that her grandfather has been searching for the remains of his father, who disappeared during the Civil War. Determined to help him, she travels to Burgos, where a mass grave is being excavated, and where he could be buried. During her stay there, she will learn the story of Antoni Benaiges, a young teacher from Tarragona who was her grandfather's teacher before the war. Through an innovative pedagogical method, Antoni inspired his students and made them a promise: to take them to see the sea.
78Smoke & Mirrors 2016
A tale of cheats and impostors, taking its inspiration from true facts and from one of the most intriguing characters of recent decades: the spy Francisco Paesa.
69A Twelve-Year Night 2018
Uruguay, 1973. Having been crushed by the military dictatorship, surviving members of the Tupamaro guerillas are imprisoned and tortured. They must find a way to endure the coming 12 years.
73I Am Nevenka 2024
In the year 2000, Nevenka Fernández, 24 years old, Councilor for Finance in the Ponferrada City Council, suffered relentless persecution, both sentimental and professional, by the mayor, a man accustomed to doing his will politically and personally. She never decides to report, although she knows that she will have to pay a very high price: her environment does not support her, the society of Ponferrada turns its back on her and the media subjects her to a public trial. A story inspired by real events that turns its protagonist into a pioneer by taking an influential and popular politician to court for sexual and workplace harassment for the first time.
731898: Our Last Men in the Philippines 2016
The Philippines, 1898. Fifty Spanish soldiers arrive in the small village of Baler to rebuild an outpost. Although the war against the Filipinos and their American allies is almost lost, as is the Spanish Empire, the garrison will endure a cruel siege for eleven months. They will be the last to surrender.
65Marco: The Invented Truth 2024
Enric Marco, a Spanish trade unionist, claims to be a survivor of Nazi concentration camps.
69Land and Freedom 1995
David Carr is a British Communist who is unemployed. In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War begins, he decides to fight for the Republican side, a coalition of liberals, communists and anarchists, so he joins the POUM militia and witnesses firsthand the betrayal of the Spanish revolution by Stalin's followers and Moscow's orders.
76A Man of Action 2022
Loosely inspired by the life of Lucio Urtubia, explore the figure of the so-called anarchist 'Robin Hood,' who ran a legendary counterfeiting operation in Paris that put him in the crosshairs of America's largest bank, when he managed to obtain a huge amount of money by forging traveler's checks to invest in causes he believed in.
65The Giant 2017
Having fought in the First Carlist War, Martin returns to his family farm in Gipuzkoa only to find that his younger brother, Joaquín, towers over him in height. Convinced that everyone will want to pay to see the tallest man on Earth, the siblings set out on a long trip all over Europe, during which ambition, money and fame will forever change the family’s fate. A story based on true events.
64Murder by the Coast 2021
In 1999, teen Rocío Wanninkhof is murdered. Her mother's ex-partner, Dolores Vázquez, is suspected. Did she do it? A second victim reveals the truth.
67Gold 2017
Spanish soldiers battle indigenous tribes and their own brutal natures as they search for a legendary city built of gold.
58Wolf 2004
Based on a true story. In the 70s, during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship, Txema, a basque construction worker, is arrested because of his connection to some terrorists who have just committed a murder. The secret service see in him an ideal candidate to infiltrate the terrorist band ETA and become a mole, so they try to offer him a deal if he will do so.
70Memories of My Father 2020
In the polarized and violent Medellín (Colombia's 'City of Eternal Spring') of the 1970s, doctor Héctor Abad Gómez is concerned about both his children and children from less favored classes. After a devastating loss in the family, Héctor gives himself to the greater cause of public health programs for the poor in Medellín to the consternation of the city's authorities.
72The Sleeping Voice 2011
Finished the Spanish Civil War in April 1939, in November 1940, while Spain is being crushed by the ruthless boot of dictator Franco, Pepita travels from rural Córdoba to Madrid to be near her sister Hortensia, who is seven months pregnant and imprisoned, haunted by the shadow of a death sentence.
77Sad Hill Unearthed 2018
Province of Burgos, northern Spain, October 2015. A group of fans undertake the titanic task of restoring the location of the last scene of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the mythical spaghetti western directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone in 1966.
73Crossing Borders 2006
In 1960, Martín and Marcos are forced by their difficult personal circumstances to travel to Switzerland in search of work, leaving their families in the Madrid of Franco's Spain. But they undertake more than a simple journey; they begin the road to a new life.
71Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles 2019
Paris, 1930. Luis Buñuel is penniless after the scandal surrounding the release of his last movie. Sculptor Ramón Acín, a good friend, buys a lottery ticket and promises Buñuel that he will pay for his next movie if he wins the prize.
72Face to Face with ETA: Conversations with a Terrorist 2023
An in-depth interview with José Antonio Urrutikoetxea, known as Josu Ternera, one of the most relevant leaders of the terrorist gang ETA.
66Mad Love 2001
The tragic fate of Juana I of Castille, Queen of Spain, madly in love to an unfaithful husband, Felipe el Hermoso, Archduke of Austria.
62The Broken Crown 2016
In a Spain consumed by ambition and power, the future of an empire depends of the mind state of a single woman.
67The Chess Player 2017
In 1934 Diego Padilla wins the Spanish Championship of Chess and meets a French journalist, Marianne Latour, and they fall in love. At the end of the Civil War, Marianne convinces Diego to live in France with their daughter, where shortly afterwards Diego will be accused of spying by the Nazis and imprisoned in an SS prison. In prison, Diego will try to survive in a hostile environment thanks to Colonel Maier's passion for chess.
66Spain: The First Globalization 2021
A new reading of the historical period that began with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1479-1516) and the discovery of America (1492), as well as an analysis of its undeniable influence on the subsequent evolution of the history of Spain and the world.
8075 días 2022
On Friday, November 13th, 1992, three 14 years old girls mysteriously disappear when they head to a disco in a nearby town. 75 days later, their dead bodies were found in an advanced stage of decomposition, half buried in the undergrowth.
61Columbus DNA: His True Origin 2024
One of the most important and exciting historical research of all time, the study of the DNA of the navigator Christopher Columbus, finally answers two fundamental questions: where do his bones rest? What is his true origin?
70Salvador (Puig Antich) 2006
The story of Salvador Puig Antich, one of the last political prisoners to be executed under Franco's Fascist State in 1974.
66They Shot the Piano Player 2023
New York, 2010. Jeff Harris, a music journalist, sets out to uncover the truth about Francisco Tenório Júnior, a young Brazilian samba-jazz pianist who disappeared in Buenos Aires on March 18, 1976.
64Diario de un skin 2005
63Marisol: llámame Pepa 2024
A portrait of the actress and singer Pepa Flores, an incarnation of the recent history of Spain, who, in just twenty-five years of intense career, went from being Marisol, child prodigy of the Franco dictatorship, to being one of the first communist militants, icon of the Transition; an idol of the masses who became a discreet person after having claimed her right to remain silent.
74Freedomfighters 1996
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the nun Maria is forced to flee her convent. She takes refuge in a brothel, until it is liberated by a woman's anarchist group. Maria joins the group and eventually goes to the front. The women's group faces the problems of fighting not only the nationalists, but also factions on the left seeking to impose a more traditional military structure.
66The Captive 2025
In 1575, the young soldier Miguel de Cervantes is captured on the high seas by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers as a hostage. Aware that a cruel death awaits him if his family does not pay his ransom soon, he finds refuge in his passion for storytelling.
66The Crime of Cuenca 1981
Osa de la Vega, Cuenca, Spain, 1913. Gregorio and León, employees on the estate of the village's mayor, a powerful landowner, are arrested and accused of the murder of José María el Cepa, a shepherd who mysteriously disappeared three years earlier.
68The Borgia 2006
A portrait of the bloody dynasty that spawned a pope, Alexander VI, as well as the role model for Machiavelli's “The Prince,” his son Cesare Borgia, and a legend of femme duplicity, daughter Lucrezia Borgia.
63The Barcelona Vampiress 2020
Barcelona, Spain, 1912. The disappearance of a girl from a wealthy family triggers a series of events that will shake the weak foundations of a hypocritical society.
54Red Eagle: The Movie 2011
Early XVII century. A summit between France, England, Portugal and the Pope is to take place in Spain, home of the masked hero known as Red Eagle. The countries are coming together under the guise of looking for a solution to the conflict between Spain and Portugal; however, the ulterior motive is to attack the Kingdom of Spain. The Marchioness of Santillana and her fellow conspirators have hired an assassin to finish off the Red Eagle to guarantee the outcome of their plot. The townspeople and the whole kingdom will be at the mercy of the traitors, but the Red Eagle will be there to help them.
62La frontera: el documental 2025
For decades, the commandos of the ETA terrorist gang operating in Spain sought refuge in France after committing their crimes, without the French authorities doing anything about it; until, in 1986, the police forces of both countries began to collaborate closely and France ceased to be a sanctuary for the murderers.
69Born a King 2019
A coming-of-age story set in 1919 about 14 year old Faisal, an Arab prince who is dispatched from the deserts of Arabia to London by his warrior father, Prince Abd Al-Aziz, on a high stakes diplomatic mission to secure the formation of his country.
7123-F: la película 2011
The failed coup d'état of February 23, 1981, which began with the capture of the Congress of Deputies and ended with the release of parliamentarians, put at serious risk the Spanish democracy.
60Ignatius of Loyola 2016
Historical biographical religious drama film based on the memoirs of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order who was also canonized as a saint in Roman Catholicism.
64A Forbidden Orange 2021
Spain, 1970s. A Clockwork Orange, a film considered by critics and audiences as one of the best works in the history of cinema, directed by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1971, was banned by the strict Franco government. However, the film was finally premiered, without going through censorship, during the 20th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid Film Festival, on April 24, 1975. How was this possible?
64Soldiers of Salamina 2003
Professor Lola Sánchez investigates the truth behind the events experienced by Rafael Sánchez Mazas, one of the founders of the Falange Española party, during the Spanish Civil War.
6820-N: Los últimos días de Franco 2008
6022 ángeles 2016
The story of the Balmis Expedition, funded by the King of Spain, to bring the smallpox vaccine to Spanish America.
68GAL 2006
Two journalists investigate the criminal activities of the GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación), a secret terrorist organization founded in the eighties and financed by leading figures in the Spanish government and security forces to hunt down and exterminate both members and collaborators of the terrorist gang ETA.
59The Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone 2003
An attempt to create a bridge between the different political positions that coexist, sometimes violently, in the Basque Country, in northern Spain.
66Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World 2019
The first journey around the world began under the command of Ferdinand Magellan and was concluded by Juan Sebastián Elcano. Five boats left Seville on September 20, 1519. Storms, famine, tribes… Three years later, only one made it back. An incredible adventure around the planet whose roundness was finally proven.
55Paper Birds 2010
At the end of the Spanish Civil War, the members of a group of vaudeville performers have been stripped of everything: all they have left is hunger and the instinct to survive. Day after day, agonizingly, lost and helpless between the victors and the vanquished, the musician Jorge, the ventriloquist Enrique, the couplet singer Rocío and the orphan Miguel search tirelessly for something to eat and a safe place to live.
71A March to Remember 2019
Vitoria, Basque Country, Spain, March 3, 1976. After several months of protests demanding decent working conditions, a general strike is called. Thousands of workers gather at the church of San Francisco while a hundred heavily armed policemen wait to act.
69The Demise of ETA 2017
The chronicle of the process, ten long years, that led to the end of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), a Basque terrorist gang that perpetrated robberies, kidnappings and murders in Spain and the French Basque Country for more than fifty years. Almost 1,000 people died, but others are still alive to tell the story of how the nightmare finally ended.
61Bruc: The Manhunt 2010
Spain, 1808. The Napoleonic Army suffers its first defeat at the hands of a single man: a drummer boy who used the Montserrat mountains to echo his drums and send the enemy troops into a panicked retreat. When the news reaches Napoleon, he furiously orders the captain of the Imperial Guard to bring back the head of the young hero responsible for his army's defeat…
61Tales of Mexico 2017
The space will be witness of dreams, hopes, disappointments and dramatic destinies of its residents, delivering an intimate human history of Mexico through the decades. La Habitación will reunite eight directors that will expose the reality of each historical period resulting in a profound and inspiring portrait of modern Mexico.
75Roma 2004
Joaquín Góñez, a novelist in his sixties recalls his emotions, his wild years in Buenos Aires, the memories of old friends, the meaning of loyalty and the intimate relationship with his mother, Roma.
70Parenostre 2025
67The Anarchist's Wife 2008
Manuela is left behind when her husband Justo fights for his ideals against Franco's Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. He is deported to a concentration camp, and upon his release, continues the fight against nationalism in the French resistance. Years pass without a word from him, but his wife never gives up hope of seeing him again.
65Lola Índigo: La Niña 2022
71Hispanoamérica: Song of Life and Hope 2024
A renewed and truthful vision of how Spanish America was born and prospered, an epic story developed over more than three hundred years, that of those who bequeathed to humanity an immense architectural, sculptural, pictorial, literary and musical heritage.
83The Fencing Master 1992
A fencing master in pre-revolution Spain is hired to teach fencing to a beautiful young woman. Although he has never taught a woman before he is fascinated by her and agrees. She wishes to learn a particular thrust which he is famous for. When a local nobleman becomes involved with her the intrigue begins.
58Words for an End of the World 2020
Spain, April 14, 1931. The Second Republic is born. From the beginning, the writer Miguel de Unamuno is considered one of the ethical pillars of the new regime. Five years later, on December 31, 1936, a few months after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), Unamuno dies at his home in Salamanca, capital of the rebel side, led by General Francisco Franco, and main center of dissemination of its propaganda apparatus.
80The Load 2016
Late sixteenth century. A Tameme Indian man and a noble Spanish woman flee through the forests of the New World in search of freedom. Their frantic journey softens the tension between them and dissolves their longstanding differences and creates intimate bonds that threaten their very survival.
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