Episode 6: Cantaloa Identity
- Thelma Annan
- Apr 2, 2016
- 3 min read
While this episode is filled with more twist and turns than usual— particularly the growing love triangles between Julio, Alicia and Diego, Andres, Belen and Diego and now Javier, his new fiance Eugenia and her sister Mercedes— I want to focus on the vocalization of country identity within the show. Or perhaps, the lack thereof.
After 6 episodes into Grand Hotel, I realized that the location of the series is hardly mentioned. In fact, in the last 6 episodes Cantaloa is mentioned less than five times (twice in episode 6). In this episode, I also discovered that the Grand Hotel is not necessarily located in the city of Cantaloa, but in the countryside. Cantaloa is the nearby city where the Grand Hotel staff and guests go to do outside business. I looked on a current map, and the Grand Hotel is indeed a hotel in Barcelona, a city known for its ethnic diversity and strong presence of Catalan amongst its people. However, the show itself is filmed at Palacio de la Magdalena, which is located at the northeastern corner of Spain on the Magdalena Peninsula of Santander, Cantabria, Spain, where the Catalan language originates (wikipedia).
One would never know the location of the hotel had it not been for the characters’ Spanish accents and thick Catalan dialects. Again, referencing shows that I am familiar with— Grey’s Anatomy is set in Seattle Washington, with their location Seattle Grace Hospital mentioned or at least visible in almost every other episode. Scandal is set in Washington D.C., and if that is not mentioned, there is always some patriotic symbol or building (i.e. the White House, a government building or at least an American flag) to signify that it is located at our country’s capital. The only exception I can think of is The Walking Dead, where the characters themselves have no idea where they are. However this ignorance adds to the overall storyline.
The only type of emotion referenced for Cantaloa that goes beyond a business transaction is one of spite, that coming from Detective Ayala. A big shot investigator, he mocks Cantaloa, asking if he would even be able to find it on the map. This line reinstates Cantaloa and the hotel itself as insignificant in relation to the rest of Spain. However, this does not necessarily take away the hotel's presence and overall power. Due to its complete isolation — both socially and geographically -— their mysterious rules and murderous affairs go unaccounted for by the laws and expectations of Spanish society.
Although a fictional location meant to reside in a real location, I think this choice to disregard the location both helps and hurts the Grand Hotel plotline. It aids to the elitist appeal, in that the hotel and its occupants are accustomed to their own ways—which entails handling competition, threats and other nuisances to their discretion. This reiterates Dona Teresa's ultimate superiority throughout the hotel. In opposition, this displacement also seems to exhibit a lack of Spanish nationalism. Is the lack of geographical acknowledgement a conscious decision to seem more appealing to foreign audiences? Or does location come secondary to other elements within the show? I am not too familiar with Spanish shows in general to determine whether or not this is a specific oversight or typical of European broadcasting.
On a personal level, this factor does not bother me too much. Just by their accents alone I know the series resides in Spain. However referencing shows that I am accustomed to, I realize that location is imperative to American storylines. Perhaps as Season 1 continues to unfold, it will present a much stronger geographical identity.