The series, which tells the life and death of Spanish transgender singer and television personality Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, better known by the nickname "La Veneno", is based on the biography ¡Digo!
[1][2] The full season was scheduled to be released on 29 March 2020 on subscription streaming platform Atresplayer Premium but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production and post-production could not be completed.
[5] The series' soundtrack including cover versions by Amaia, Álex de Lucas and Jedet as well as the original song "Nunca Debiste Cruzar el Mississippi" by Leiva, was released on digital platforms on 29 October.
[9] In November 2019 the cast was confirmed, with Jedet, Daniela Santiago and Isabel Torres being selected to play the main character, Cristina Ortiz, in the series.
Production later extended to Adra, Valencia and the Community of Madrid (with special focus at the Casa de Campo) and was scheduled to last four months, ending in March 2020.
This story tells the experiences of a struggling transgender woman, who achieved fame with television appearances in the 90s and conquered the audience with a unique vision of the world.
The series follows the story of Valeria Vegas, a journalism student who never understood why people called her by a name that was not her own, the same thing that happened to Cristina, by then misnamed "Joselito" and the same one she had they have to survive a cruel and violent childhood under the Spain of the 60s.
Two women who were born in very different times but who end up united forever when Valeria decides to write a book about the life of the iconic Cristina, La Veneno.
The first five years of the 1990s in Spain were a dark, life-changing period for the country due to the huge amount of corruption scandals, terrorist attacks and the murder of three 14-year-old girls in the province of Valencia.
[23] Throughout the investigation, the discovery of the bodies in January 1993, their respective funerals and judgments, the media was always present since one of the girls' parents went to the press in first instance in order to help with the search for their daughter.
When it was revealed that the girls hitchhiked to get to the club (something very normal at that time), women's freedoms were considerably reduced due to the hysteria generated by this event.
After being scammed in her first attempt to report from Chueca, Sainz drove to the Parque del Oeste to film how prostitution took place in Madrid, to show the world something that was still not talked about in the press.
Her undeniable beauty, unbelievably raw stories, coarse language, light and sense of humor captivated the public, making Navarro's show reach 8 million viewers every time she made an appearance.
La Veneno became one of the first transgender people to show Spain the raw but true reality of prostitution, poverty and disrespect for minorities even from their own family members.
Veneno had the best debut of a series in the platform's history and became the most-watched programme on Atresplayer Premium being 10 times more watched than any other show on it to date.
[37] Several critics named the series "a must see", "a moving and complex story within a brilliant fiction that is emotional and necessary", "an interesting and risky proposal about the Spanish icon" as well as "a work of art".
On 10 October 2020, the City Council of Madrid announced that a new commemorative plaque of La Veneno would be placed at the Parque del Oeste due to popular demand after the first one was vandalized and stolen a week after its placement in April 2019 during the presidency of Manuela Carmena.
On 30 October, Minister of Equality Irene Montero announced that the law would be voted by the Spanish people before being submitted for approval by the government in the following months.
[44][45] This would allow transgender people to change their name and gender in the official documentation without presenting medical evidence of transition nor taking hormones.