Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s Spanish medical drama show, ‘Breathless,’ created by Carlos Montero, transports the audience to a fast-paced, high-stakes public hospital in Valencia, where the staff struggles, grappling with public health policies. At the narrative’s center are an array of doctors and nurses, including renowned oncologist Néstor Moa, his resident doctor, Biel de Felipe, head of surgery Pilar Amaro, the exceptional brain surgeon Jésica Donoso, and many more. While these individuals try their best to look after their patients, the recent cuts to public health negatively impact their professions. As a result, medical professionals are compelled to consider striking for their rights.
The show maintains a blend of drama and realism in exploring the lives of Biel and his coworkers. Different storylines take a deep dive into the various aspects of working in the public healthcare sector. Consequently, as Hospital Joaquin Sorolla stands as the institution central to these storylines, its relationship with reality naturally comes under questioning.
Joaquin Sorolla is a Fictional Hospital
Since ‘Breathless,’ also known as ‘Respira,’ is a fictional story, the characters, locations, and incidents depicted within the series are equally fictitious in nature. Consequently, Joaquin Sorolla, the Valencian hospital where the show is primarily set, also remains a work of fabrication created by the show’s writers. While the establishment loosely mines real-life hospitals as inspiration to establish a sense of realism, no actual institution stands as the non-fiction counterpart behind it. Instead, Joaquin Sorolla almost entirely only exists as film sets and sound stages specifically built for this project.
As per reports, the set was constructed in Madrid’s Netflix production center in Tres Cantos over the course of about six months, with the crew modeling it after real-life hospitals. From patient rooms and halls to wards and the pharmacy, the crucial building blocks that go into any hospital were meticulously replicated for filming. Furthermore, the set was created to be a permanent structure with the occasional mobile wall to ensure the design remains as realistic as possible without sacrificing convenience.
However, even more than the exceptional construction that went behind Joaquin Sorolla’s set, it was the thought and precision that went into its interior that cemented the on-screen hospital’s authenticity. The crew went the extra mile and added messy details to the set to further replicate the reality of a busy, understaffed, and overrun public hospital. Thus, medical equipment, administrative items, and even the space itself were tinkered with to imbue it with a sense of inhabitation.
As such, by putting so much effort into creating a realistic set design for Hospital Joaquin Sorolla, the show allows the institution to appear as an actual establishment. By conveying the hectic reality of public hospitals through the fictionalized institution, the narrative highlights the stressful environment native to such places. As a result, Joaquin Sorolla workers’ decision to strike better parallels the gravity of the real-life protests that broke out in Spain in 2023 over the regional government’s cutbacks. Thus, even as a fictional Spanish public hospital, Joaquin Sorolla efficiently conveys the reality of such institutions.
Read More: Breathless: Is Netflix’s Spanish TV Series Based on a True Story?
