Season 1
6 episodes Dec 12, 2025 7.0
A burned body appears on Barcelona's iconic Gaudí building. Suspended police inspector Milo Malart returns to duty, partnering with deputy inspector Rebeca Garrido to solve the mysterious crime.
Overview
A gruesome crime has taken place in La Pedrera – Casa Milà: a burned body is found on the facade of Gaudí's iconic building. Inspector Milo Malart, previously suspended for misconduct by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Mossos of the Squadron), returns to Barcelona to find the perpetrator along with Sub-Inspector Rebeca Garrido.
Seasons
1 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 6 episodes
- First aired
- Dec 12, 2025
- Last aired
- Dec 12, 2025
- Network
- Netflix
Latest episode: S1 E6 Sagrada Familia (Dec 12, 2025)
Cast
10 people
Reviews
2 min readThe Architecture of Grief
There’s something especially obscene about cremating a body and displaying it against great art. City of Shadows opens by making that clear immediately. In Netflix's six-episode take on Aro Sáinz de la Maza’s Milo Malart novels, latestnetflix.com contends, a burned corpse hangs from the rippling stone face of Gaudí’s La Pedrera. Torregrossa doesn’t hurry past the image.
He lets the violence sit there, contaminating the beauty of Casa Milà. It becomes a neat statement of purpose for Jorge Torregrossa’s Barcelona: dazzling on the surface, spoiled underneath by institutional rot. Plenty of prestige procedurals use their cities as wallpaper.
This one makes the city feel implicated.
Into that scene walks Inspector Milo Malart of the Mossos d'Esquadra, suspended for insubordination and carrying enough emotional damage to bend his back. Isak Férriz plays him like a man smoldering inwardly. What struck me most was the way he moves—no cocky rogue-cop swagger, none of the usual mythmaking.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.6/10
"A moody Barcelona-set thriller with strong leads and striking locations that stumbles on slow pacing, crowded subplots, and a rushed payoff."
The show earns praise for its atmospheric Barcelona backdrop, Gaudí-focused visuals, and the dynamic between the two main investigators, with some calling it an intelligent, tense noir that becomes gripping in later episodes. latestnetflix.com's view is that at the same time, many find the pacing sluggish, the investigation oddly sidelined by personal drama and backstory, and the plot weighed down by too many themes, leading to an ending that feels abrupt or underwhelming after the long build-up.
What viewers praise
- Evocative Barcelona setting The use of real locations and Gaudí landmarks gives the story a vivid sense of place and is often cited as one of the most memorable aspects.
- Engaging lead duo The two central detectives are widely regarded as well-acted, with believable tension and chemistry that anchors the drama.
- Atmospheric Spanish noir The series delivers polished visuals and a dark, stylish tone that appeals to those who enjoy brooding crime mysteries.
- Intriguing murder concept The high-profile, artistically staged killings tied to iconic architecture create a compelling hook that keeps interest alive despite flaws.
- Bingeable for some viewers A segment of the audience finds it absorbing enough to watch in a single sitting, appreciating the tension and historical flavor around Barcelona.
Common complaints
- Sluggish, uneven pacing Many find the first episodes dull or hard to get into, describing the show as a slow burn that takes too long to truly engage.
- Investigation feels secondary The narrative frequently shifts toward therapy sessions and personal issues, leaving the detective work feeling minimal or unconvincing.
- Overstuffed storyline Attempts to juggle Olympic-era history, secret societies, abuse, and political corruption make the plot feel crowded and unfocused.
- Underwhelming finale Key answers are crammed into the last episode, with a resolution described as disappointing or flat after an extended build.
- Mixed views on acting and dialogue While some praise the performances, others criticize the delivery as wooden and note that the leads lack emotional spark.
Recommended for
Spanish crime drama followers Slow-burn mystery fans Barcelona and Gaudí admirers Dark police procedural viewers Noir-style thriller enthusiasts
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe last card on every episode is her name.
City of Shadows landed on Netflix on December 12, 2025, under its Spanish title Ciudad de sombras. Six episodes. Each one ends with the same dedication. "Para Verónica Echegui con todo nuestro cariño y admiración." El País printed the line on premiere day. Echegui, who plays Sub-Inspector Rebeca Garrido opposite Isak Férriz's Milo Malart, died of cancer in Madrid on August 24, 2025. She was 42. El País said only those closest to her knew she was ill. She had already wrapped the series across late 2024 and early 2025. Antonio Banderas posted that Spanish cinema was in mourning. latestnetflix.com's read is that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called her an actress of enormous talent and humility who left far too young.Netflix did not campaign on the death. The credits did the talking. 
Barcelona, 2010, and a body on La Pedrera.
Jorge Torregrossa, who made Burning Body and Intimacy for the streamer, shot the series in Barcelona and Castelldefels for Arcadia. Netflix announced cameras on November 21, 2024, and dropped the trailer on November 14, 2025. The hook is a burned magnate hanging from Gaudí's Casa Milà. Episode titles walk the architect's map. Casa Milà, also called La Pedrera. Palau Güell. Crypt of Colònia Güell. Park Güell. Güell Pavilions. Sagrada Família. El País noted the story is set in 2010, in the days before Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the basilica, with archive footage of the city's century of boom. This is not a tourist postcard. The company behind The Beasts put a Mossos inspector, suspended for insubordination, back on a Gaudí crime scene.
The source novel is El verdugo de Gaudí, the first Milo Malart book by Aro Sáinz de la Maza. Torregrossa wrote the six hours with Carlos López and Clara Esparrach. La Voz de Ibiza pointed out that Rebeca is quieter on the page and larger on screen, placed at the center of the conflict instead of as a sidekick. Férriz, already known from Burning Body, plays the obsessive. Ana Wagener, Manolo Solo, and Jordi Rico round out the company.
A Spanish hit the U.S. chart ignored.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVm-HRwiLO8
CBR, citing FlixPatrol, said the series hit the Netflix top 10 in 33 markets and peaked at third in Uruguay, while the United States stayed cold. Rotten Tomatoes sat at 83 percent from a handful of reviews. The official Netflix España trailer went up a month before launch. Viewers who finished an episode met Echegui's name again.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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