The Professor (Sergio Marquina) is a fictional character in the Netflix series Money Heist, portrayed by Álvaro Morte.

Under the false identity of Salvador "Salva" Martín, he was able to get closer to the lead inspector assigned to the Royal Mint robbery, Raquel Murillo, and the pair eventually fell in love.

He sleeps with her and when her mother finds out about his involvement with the heist, he attempts to poison her but pulls out at the last second, opting to take advantage of her poor memory and deleting the voicemail,which contained crucial information that would expose him.

The Professor spent years of his life meticulously planning the heist, and covered aspects that most people wouldn’t think of.

[6] However, developing the Professor's role proved difficult, as the character did not follow typal conventions[7] and the producers were uncertain about his degree of brilliance.

[4] While the producers found his "Salva" alter ego early on,[4] they were originally looking for a 50-year-old Harvard professor type with the looks of Spanish actor José Coronado.

[9] Meanwhile, the casting directors advocated for Álvaro Morte, whom they knew from their collaboration on the long-running Spanish soap opera El secreto de Puente Viejo, even though his prime time television experience was limited at that point.

[4] The Professor's glasses were initially red and more prominent, but in the end the producers preferred a more discreet option and in a darker tone.

[3] Creator Álex Pina saw Raquel's story as a formerly abused wife falling in love with the Professor "as very powerful, very romantic".