The Spanish soap opera 'Sueños de Libertad' 2024 series is the Spanish adaptation of a Turkish soap opera, set in a picturesque town in Toledo in the late 1950s. After more than 40 episodes, 'Dreams of Freedom' has demonstrated an exceptional ability to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, revealing unexpected twists in each episode.
Among the protagonists are Alain Hernández, Natalia Sánchez and Dani Tatay, who play two brothers involved in a conflict over the family business and the love of a woman, a classic of television dramas.
However, one subplot has begun to stand out and generate controversy among fans.
Marta de la Reina, played by the beautiful Marta Belmonte, is the only daughter of the owner of the central business of the series (a perfumery) and is at the heart of a clandestine romance with Fina, a character played by Alba Brunet, one of the employees whose father has worked all his life in the family business.
The team of scriptwriters has done an enviable job with the creation of two complex characters, full of lights and shadows, capable of complementing each other. Two women who, although they are evolving together, they are doing it, also, individually. The personalities of Fina and Marta are the clearest definition of women who do not belong to the time in which they have lived (they’re ahead of their times).
But they are not the only ones, since all the women who star in fiction have been in charge of supporting this theory. Strong, independent and self-confident in a world led by men, the women of 'Sueños de Libertad' present a reality made invisible by the ideology of the time.
Their love story starts bold, Fina tries to kiss one of her colleagues and they start a fight because the other woman doesn’t feel the same way. Surprisingly, the boss, Marta fires the woman who calls Fina an abomination and takes her part. Marta is older, and as an heiress she has many responsabilities and she can’t be her true self. She is harsh on Fina at work, because she realizes she has feelings for her and doesn’t know how to behave nor what to do with them, as Fina turns her life upside down. When she realizes she can’t escape them, she dwelves into them and seems to have lost control a bit (the walls Marta has build around her heart, fade away in from of Fina’s beauty, strength, determination and happiness and freedom).
I love the small gestures of intimacy between them: holding hands, easy laughter, erasing sugar from Fina’s lips, Marta dreaming of Fina, escaping to Madrid in a rented apartment and steamy kisses. With the passing of time, they admit their love for each other, yet their love is still hidden.
The drama intensifies with Marta’s marital situation, married to a frequently absent husband (he is a doctor on a boat), and Fina’s determination to reveal her sexual orientation to her loved ones.
This relationship has been nicknamed ‘Mafin’ by fans, who have eagerly awaited each development, similar to other iconic soap opera couples like ‘Luimelia’ and ‘Maitino’. The plot took a passionate turn when Marta and Fina escaped to a hotel for a week of passion, but their happiness is threatened by the imminent appearance of Marta’s husband.
Of course, that’s another twist in the plot.
Marta is like a caged bird in her marriage and fells really unhappy with the situation and cries in front of her brother and her relationship with Fina is threatened by her husband staying permanently at home.
I wonder what will happen next! This is a remarkable love story between two strong beautiful women in 1950’s Spain, imagine how hard should have been for them and I appreciate even more how sweet and beautiful their love story is.
You can watch Marta & Fina’s love story here (the language is Spanish and the videos have English subtitles):
Sources:
Inkmarksonemptydreams 