I'm guessing that most of the bad reviews here are from people who haven't spent much/any time in Spain.
For those of us who live in Spain, this miniseries (8 episodes) perfectly captures:
1) simple Spanish life in the 1960s (Spain is a completely modern country today but in the 1960s was far behind Northern Europe)
2) the nuances of Spanish behavior
3) differences in mentality between the Mediterranean South (carefree life + mild temperatures) + La Mancha (dry continental climate with hard-working people + harsh temperature extremes)
OK, on to the story. The plot is intriguing -- a young woman from the Mediterranean South agrees to marry a wealthy man from La Mancha in order to save her family from crippling debts + eventual eviction. What she doesn't know is what kind of life awaits her in La Mancha.
The acting is excellent all-around and the characters are believable. Yes there's drama -- welcome to Spain -- but it's rarely overacted by Spanish standards.
I found the plot twists fascinating. The main actress (Megan Montaner) is charming and holds your interest throughout. The rest of the cast are equally believable and engaging.
Yes, the gay subplot felt slightly unnecessary. But no doubt gay people existed in 1960s Spain and we get to see how they coped with their situation. (If they had included Chinese or Black Africans in the 1960s, we could accuse the producers of "ticking diversity boxes", since those minorities didn't arrive in Spain until after 2000. But the gay storyline could have been authentic.)
Despite the tragedies throughout, this was an uplifting series with engaging characters and good dialogues. The cinematography is fantastic.
Special mention for the music: beautifully chosen, lots of Spanish guitars, never intrusive.
If you want a character-driven drama and you understand (or wish to understand) the Spanish mentality, then this miniseries is for you.
PS: I later discovered that this was a remake of a shorter Italian miniseries "La Sposa".
