User reviews

Famous Spanish TV series with big hit in Spain and abroad that is really nostalgic and extremely beloved. Concerning the agreeable adventures at a little town from Mediterranean coast, Nerja, Malaga, Andalucia, being starred by a group of youngsters enjoying their Summer holiday and sharing coming-of-age experiences, charming reunion and many new adventures . This affectionate bunch is formed by 7 kiddies, Javi, Quique , Pancho, Bea, Desi and the two little boys : Tito and Piraña. In spite of the generational gap they befriend deeply two adult people , the understanding Julia : Maria Garralon and Chanquete : Antonio Ferrandis as an old sailor who lives in a boat, La Dorada, in middle of a country submitted to urban speculation.

This is an enjoyable and maudlin series that was the greatest hit in Spain and some foreign countries. This old time most successful TV series has been sucessively exhibited year by year, getting the biggest share. The known series concerning thought-provoking and interesting issues, at times, such as : parents-children relationships, first loves, friendship, fights for rights, protests and strikes, and urban speculation when a building company threatens Chanquete to leave his home-boat. Lovable acting by Antonio Ferrandis as the old wise sailor, a veteran retired man who provided witness, cleverness and sensibility. He is well accompanied by Maria Garralon as a friendly painter who befriends the children and give them fine advices and ethical values. And an amusing, funny bunch of children played by Pilar Torres, Cristina Torres, Luis Angel Fernandez, Garrido, and Juanjo Artero, the latter has got a decent TV career, others have disappeared from spectacle world . Special mention for Miguel Angel Valero and Miguel Joven, playing Piraña and Tito, both of them forming a roguish and bewildering couple. And a good plethora of secondaries playing parents and villagers such as Helga Line, Elisa Montes, Manuel Tejada, Rafael Hernandez, Fernando Sanchez Pollack, Tito Garcia, Fernando Hilbeck, Ricardo Palacios , Francisco Vidal, Fernando Cebrian, Emilio Rodriguez, Carlos Larrañaga, Victor Israel, Felix Dafauce, Jorge Sanz who turned down Tito character and Roberto Camardiel as Mayor.

The series contains attractive and evocative cinematography by cameramen Francisco Fraile and Jose Aguayo, shot on location in Nerja, Malaga. As well as an evocative musical score by Carmelo Bernaola , including catching leitmotiv. It was well directed by Antonio Mercero who made nice films such as Manchas de sangre sobre un coche nuevo, Las delicias de los verdes años , Esperame en el cielo, la proxima estacion, Don Juan mi querido fantasma and La hora de los valientes. He was an expert in directing children films : Se necesita chico, La guerra de Papa, Toby, Buenas noches señor monstruo. And he made successful TV series as Cronicas de un pueblo, Turno de Oficio, Farmacia de guardia, La cabina and this one. Rating : above average series and fun for the whole family.

I grew up with this series too. In Bulgaria it was such a success that the Bulgarian National TV repeated it five or six times. We all loved it. I remember all the kids from the neighbourhood playing "Verano Azul" day after day without getting bored or anything of the kind. Of course, all the girls were in love with "Javi" /Juan Jose Artero/ and "Pancho" /Jose Luis Fernandez/. I wish I could see or meet them now. Them and all of the cast. For me "Verano Azul" is the best film for children ever made. It portrays every important moment and every significant value in a child's life. I wish I could see the series again. In the meantime I can only say: "Gracias, chicos! Habeis sido estupendos! Os quiero y os quiero conocer para agradecerles de todo corazon todos los momentos felizes que me regalasteis! Un monton de besos!"

To those of us who were kids or teenagers in the early 80s in Spain, "Verano Azul" –or Blue Summer, in a literal English translation- brings back many fond memories of what our childhood/adolescence was like.

There were two TV channels only, no home computers, play-stations, i-pods or mobile phones. And we kids would spend the whole day in the street playing ball, marbles, hide-and-seek, catch-me-if-you-can and many other games that are now extinct. Or we would pop to the local bar to play the pinball machines while having a Coke or a Fanta. We used to read Spanish comics, ride our bikes or play charades, and always had a great time. Also in those days summers were proper summers, before climate change came to screw things up. Our school summer vacation ran from mid-June to mid-September, and you hardly would see a rainy day in between. I hadn't seen the series for almost twenty years now, and when these past few days I had the chance of watching it again, my eyes filled with tears. I have been watching as many as three or four episodes every day, and couldn't get enough. Many things that I had forgotten suddenly popped back in my memory in that so well know effect that gives us the feeling that it happened only yesterday. I realise now how good this series really is because it is so realistic and well-made, with absolutely credible performances –those kids had real talent, they did-, typical teenage problems and situations within the context of the era, cultural icons, and the humour provided by Tito and Pirana, the youngest members of the gang. Because I am the same age as the actor who plays Tito, seeing him now is like seeing myself thirty years ago. These two cheeky kids always steal the show with their lines and with the innocent and plucky things they do.

I knew that the series had been a huge success in South-America but I had no idea about Bulgaria and Poland, and the reviews posted by people from these two countries have left me amazed. They say the show gave them one of the very first glimpses of the West and what kids were like in the free world, and they also say that the minute it would start on TV the streets became empty. I would have never imagined it.

This series is perfect in every way, and it is a good thing they never made a sequel (the typical thing with the youngsters returning to the village two or three years later and getting together again) because it surely could never be as good as the original.

There is a Spanish saying that goes "Good things, if they are brief, they are twice as good".

And it is true.

Ijust watched the very first episode of Verano Azul again.I'm also Bulgarian, nd I'm not surprised to see other Bulgarian comments posted here. Indeed the series were tremendous success and everyone who remember them still love them. I'm younger than most of the grown up children from that generation, but I still have a slight memory about those days. Everything was different then and it seems to me that people were happier then. The series are part of our childhood and that's why we all love them so much (among with some Bulgarian movies and TV series like Voinata na Taralejite - "Hedgehogs' War", or Vasko daGama ot selo Rupcha) Verano Azul contains a great variety of characters, all of them so real, that after a few minutes you feel like you know them. And the series are suitable for just everyone. My parents also remember them, and even my grandparents.

It was great to read the other comments here. It's good to know that so many people from different countries still remember Verano Azul. This means that those marvelous days are not forgotten and pieces of our childhood still live in our souls.

This show was aired in Argentina somewhere around 1985 (can't recall the exact year). I totally loved it from the beginning and to the end. Being in Argentina I never got any information on the show other than what you see on the screen. There were no notes in the papers about it (that I remember at least) or anything else, so getting any info on the show was impossible. That was years before the Internet era of course. What a great surprise to find out now that it was a great success in Spain in it's day and that it is still remembered by many. What a great show, how much fun it was and what a great set of values it teached. Aguante Chanquete viejo y peludo, carajo!

I agree with the opinion above. Verano Azul was the best TV series for children broadcast in Bulgaria. We all loved it to bits. It was so sweet and innocent, just right for the age we were in. So different from what kids watch today. It's true we girls were all in love with Javi and Pancho and we were trying to impersonate the female actors. Every time it started on TV, the streets got empty, everybody was getting home to see it. We always watched it through the summer holidays so it was right for the mood. I'd love to be able to get back in time to watch this again. I'm also interested to find out how to purchase the series.

I'm here just to say that I watched the show as a child in communist Romania. With nothing to see on the state television, we used to watch the Bulgarian TV station (to the point that we could speak Bulgarian without ever seeing a textbook or a dictionary of Bulgarian language).

So for all the Spanish here who are intrigued about the success Verano Azul had in countries like Bulgaria or Poland: kids in Bucharest used to love this show, even it it was dubbed in Bulgarian, a language we didn't know! (Oh, and by dubbed, I mean a dull adult voice reading the lines like it was the weather forecast)

I didn't even know for sure where the action took place. Today decided to search for it, with a feeling that it might have been Spanish, and here it is! Quite a beautiful experience, to find a piece of the past that was less than a distant memory and more of a dream about my childhood!

Back in the mid 80s in Bulgaria there weren't many foreign movies. Verano azul was one of the few broadcasted by the state TV but quickly became a big hit. A whole generation of people who spent their childhood in the 80s will always remember it. I was 7 years old when I first saw it and now, almost 20 years later, still enjoy watching it. Each episode brings back a lot of memories and the theme tune is so great!! The movie is great story with a lot of positive things to remember, like friendship and the first love:) Personally I recommend it to everyone; for me Verno azul will always be in my heart - a childhood memory to cherish!

Verano azul has been a very important serie in my parents childhood. Is a serie wich has a lot of values, some of them are the value of friendship, solidarity, fellowship and the protaginists were involved in solidarity projects. It was also a reflection of how the families of that time lived. The serie show us the diferent between tradicional families, permissive families and authoritarian families. In short, apart from being a juvenile series, it also wanted to be a reflection of the social reality that was lived in Spain at that time. It was a serie that revolved around a famous figure who was an old fisherman and adventurer who became a reference for the children. This figure told them stories about his aventures around the world. This make him a kind person, another reason to love him for the people who watched him on televisión. Verano azul has been one of the most famous series in Spain whose chapters were shot in Andalusia, specifically in Malaga and Granada. It was a serie that meant many things for entire generations and that, to this day, continues to be recognized and remembered by both, young and old.

Yes,it was great,that The Bulgarian TV showed it.It is true that this was something very different from the other films we had seen.It was the only story of its kind for the puberty then.We did not use to see films from Western Europe and they were not supposed to show,that life went normally in the West.I still remember the scene when Javi was made to dive in a pool with all his clothes by two nasty behaving girls and then he took off all of his clothes,even his speedos as a protest,and then he was punished by his father,who called him an "exhibitionist".We have never thought of such kind of protest and I remember we commented this scene even in class and the teachers told,that that came from the Western manner of life.Yeah,we commented the film and liked all the actors.A day or two ago I heard the song from the film and it made me drop a tear for my own childhood,which I will ever connect with these series.

I grew up with this movie and I loved every single bit of it! For years they have played on TV during the summer vacation. I must have been in my teens... Now, when I am 31, they are playing it again and I am watching it again! One more thing - there were some topics that were so relevant to my own life and this movie gave me the feeling I was not alone in these experiences - parents being divorced, not being the most "popular" and beautiful girl, befriending mainly with boys and becoming "one of them" - in some cases I felt like Desi. Now when I am watching the series again it seems a little bit naive to me but is still one of the hallmarks of my childhood! Thank you for giving such a "sunny" taste to my childhood! And something funny - I just found out that Bea and Desi are actually not just sisters, but twins and... that they were actually much older than the characters they were presenting...

Verano Azul is a great television series. Probably the more famous and important of last times. It advantages more important so much in his day as nowadays, it is your innovation, the great result of an index unknown protagonist, to form visually the beginning of a new Spain, and to try diverse such important and daily topics like the real friendship, the first love, the awakening of the sex, the care of the nature, the family, the adventure to be a child, and the death of a dear person.

Verano Azul is the history of the meeting of a group of persons (of different age and sex) in the village of Nerja, in vacation period, sharing the summer of yours lives. The protagonists are the teenagers Bea (the pretty girl), Tito (the fair child), Piraña (the ready child), Desi (the ugly girl), Javi (the gallant), Quique (the best friend of Javi) and Pancho (the resident only one of the village). They accompany the thirty Julia (later we discovers that is a widow) and Chanquete (an old wolf of sea). Both share you venture and misfortunes, sometimes entertaining, sometimes sad, almost always you fill of emotive, education and melaconlie.

From the first chapter one is showing us the evolution of friendship between all protagonists. Desi and Bea are very good friends. Pancho and Javi fights to obtain Bea's love. Quique is the faithful companion of Javi. And the children Tito and Piraña always together only want to amuse. Chanquete is the father that all desiring to have, and Julia is the mother. Each one has them own protagonism in the following chapters for the most part. The final predicable, is the summer end and the farewell of all.

Antonio Mercero do not manage to have nevermore a success so big as that of Verano Azul (not least with Farmacia de Guardia). Antonio Ferrandis dead in 16-10-2000. Constant Maria Garrallon leading television series. Of the boys and girls little it is known, they disappeared of the world of the television radically.

Although in communist Poland we had two TV channels (unlike in Portugal) there was not much to choose either;( This TV series was very special not only because it was Spanish but because it was about very universal values: love, friendship, family, respect and tolerance. It was unusual because in communist Poland the Spanish cinematography was represented by Carlos Saura movies. Of course there were other so called "Western productions" for children (like TV series "Kidnapped" or "Robin of Sherwood") but "Niebieskie lato" ("Verano Azul" in Polish) was broadcasted one year after the end of 1981 Martial Law i.e. in 1983. It was somehow cheerful and optimistic also because it was proving that children could have a happy and normal life nonetheless of turbulent history i.e. the end of the old regime in Spain.

Everything is true, during socialism, this Spanish series was shown three times on Bulgarian TV. Back then, there were only two TV channels in Bulgaria, and there were shown rarely Western European films. My generation grew up with Verano Azul, everyone loves it. Everyone could see themselves in one or another episode of the film. We saw a mentality very similar to ours in Spanish children, so we loved this film at first sight. He was made for us. For the first time, Verano Azul was showed on the Bulgarian TV in February-March 1984. Then they released only 6 of the series. The rest were apparently censored by the communists. For the second time Verano Azul was showed in the summer of 1986. At this time they already showed all 19 series. For the third time, the film was shown in the summer of 1988, again all 19 episodes. The streets were really deserted, we would all go home to watch the movie, and after the series ended, we would go out to play again and tell each other about the series.

Verano Azul, the 80's Spanish TV series was also very popular in Portugal. By that time, there was only one TV channel in Portugal and, therefore, this series was seen by a whole generation. Even the series theme stays in our memory. I cannot forget all the waiting I did to see the new adventures of those kids. It was the first show that approached several 'tabu' issues (we were in the 80s...) like sex, period, etc...

I heard in the news that a DVD set of the series is about to be released here in Portugal and, probably, in Spain. It's a great chance to meet again those characters that were part of our youth. Note: none of the actors is still performing. 'Chanquete' died of lung disease in 2000. The series' girls are now nurses at a Madrid hospital. Piraña is a University teacher (informatic systems) and Pancho had a (unsuccessful) boys band in Madrid.

I was just about 11-12 years old when "Verano azul" passed for the first time on Portuguese TV. They passed once a week, during weekends. I saw the first episode and immediately got seduced by the characters and the story. I saw all episodes until the end of the series and when that end came I felt sorry to realize that I would no longer be able to keep seeing Julia, Chanquete, Pancho, Javi, Bea, etc. Anyway, Portuguese TV passed the series again in the following years and I saw it over and over again. I've been looking for a long time to buy it on DVD, but can't find it here in Portugal. Hope I can get it soon, to see it again. They just don't make that kind of series anymore.

I grew up with this series. As time goes by, I have revisited many of the shows I used to love as a child, only to wonder: "What on earth was I thinking wasting my time watching this?!" Not so with this show. It is nostalgic, beautiful, enduring and has a quality of truth that spans the decades. I still love it as much as ever.

Each of the children will reflect you at one point in your life or other. Worth watching if you have the chance.

This serial's part of my most pleasant memories from childhood. I saw it just once, I was about 8 at that time (1982), when it was broadcasted here in Yugoslavia. I strongly remember the great, warm atmosphere of Spanish coast, sweet old fisherman, nice, tender smile of Maria Garralon (but when I saw her recently in "Companeros", of course I couldn't connect her with that young teacher from "Verano Azul", it was just IMDb that brought me to it by her name). I remember that it had been broadcasted on Sundays at 1 PM and that I cried when it was finished.!Ojala! if I could see it once again!

I've bought this TV series recently. I watched it for the first time when I was a child...twenty--- years ago.Nerja, the town where was filmed is already an extraordinary place, plenty of white houses and beautiful beaches which smell "pescaito frito", very typical of "Andalucia"(the south of Spain). The cast was carely chosen. The old seaman Chanquete, the lady painter Julia and the different children's about five and seventeen years old Javi, Pancho, Quique, Bea, Desi, Piraña and Tito... In every chapter, this group will have different "adventures" during their holidays and we could learn important lessons of love, friendship,courageous,etc In spite of being and old TV series, this is recommended for young people of all generations. PD. Sorry for my bad English

Susu

Perhaps is one of the most famous TV series in Spain, not only it is a good one, but also it has been almost every summer since 1978 on TV1. I have seen Chanquete´s death 4 times and I will remember the song until I die (Del barco de Chanquete, no nos moverán...). Some of the boys are now unknown people (or even some are death) but Ferrandis and Garralón are now famous actors. If you are not Spanish you should take a look at it, but remember, in 1978 we were not a modern country.