Spanish Sundown

There's a good reason you aren't hearing your regularly scheduled episode today. Stay tuned! --- © 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

In today’s story, Carlota is partying with her boyfriend Lucas in Madrid’s Plaza Dos de Mayo square. Carlota loves Lucas, but sometimes he does…stuff. Stuff that pisses her off so bad, all she can see are the dark spots of irritation behind her eyes. When she touches the iron fence around the statues of Captains Daoíz and Velarde, Carlota travels back to 1808 Spain and meets Manuela Malasaña, the...

If someone hurt a person you loved, how long would you be willing to wait to make them pay? In today’s story, guest actress Khephra C. White introduces us to a nurse named Helena. She toys with her favorite golden brooch with red rubies while she waits at a lonely hospital. When a new patient named Alfredo arrives, he tries to take her piece of jewelry. The voices inside the brooch take them both...

Every spring in Spain, the pine trees are covered in nests the size of a fist with the texture of a rotten cobweb. Out of these nests come caterpillars, called processionaries. These caterpillars are poisonous. Their hairs provoke a rash that can last for several days. This rash spreads. Like a poison. In today's episode, Estrella is ridding her backyard of these pests. When her shovel strikes an...

Spanish Sundown has been shortlisted for the 2026 UK International Audio Drama Festival! Playing with 26 countries, 16 languages and 60 dramas. Uh...how cool is that?! You can see the full list and listen to all the fantastic shows here . -- While we're on the road, check out one of my favorite shows: Lore & Crime. You can subscribe on the show's website , on Apple , Spotify or Amazon . Follow...

2,000 years ago, indigenous Celtic Vettons inhabited the Iberian peninsula. They carved statues of bulls and wild boar made of stone, many of which can still be found today. And they participated in religious rituals involving what we would call magic mushrooms. When the Romans swooped in, they burned and sacked the Vettons' villages. Do you always root for the underdog? What if the underdog...sto...

Every year, the villagers in the remote mountain town of Navalosa in the province of Ávila dress as cucurrumachos for Carnival. They don loud cowbells and wooden masks with curved bull horns that sprout from the temples. A fun game. Cucurrumachos don't really exist, after all. Dani is lonely. Like a quicksand sinkhole in his gut, his loneliness consumes him from the inside out. When Dani puts one...

In 1915, Count José María del Palacio y Abárzuza stole a statuette of St. James the Greater from the grave of 15th-century Spanish royalty. In 1969, this figure appeared in the New York Met Museum. How did it get there? The answer lies with the Count’s mansion: Beak Cliff House, or Palacio del Canto del Pico. In today’s story, we meet David. David is a nice guy. Too nice. In a world where everyone...

A strange little man is spying on Isa in Madrid's iconic Retiro Park. It's Valentine's Day. And Isa hates Valentine's Day. Because people are trash. When the tiny duende's hiding place is revealed, Isa is forced to join forces with a stranger and confront one of her greatest fears. The voices trapped in a magical flute take her on an action-packed journey to the 18th century, where she explores th...

“Normally, when you change the IV bag, you’re supposed to check the expiration date and contents, but in this case, well…we don’t really care now, do we?” A nurse decides which patients need to atone for their sins, and why. He’s on a righteous mission. Right? He’s doing the right thing. Isn’t he? Yeah, he’s definitely doing what needs to be done. For sure. After finding a cilice that belonged to...

In the Duero Valley lie the ruins of a 4th-century Roman villa. In what used to be the home's entrance, there is an impeccably preserved mosaic of Pegasus. But Pegasus has no wings. Why? This episode's character is a Latin translator who travels to the villa with his boss (and clingy romantic partner) for a work assignment, all while dealing with abnormal back pain. When he discovers a tablet with...

Lori Gerson voices our main character in Spanish Sundown's Episode 9 - María Pita: Swamp Breath. Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an American immigrant to Spain? With so many listeners asking what it’s like to live abroad, we wanted to give you this special bonus episode where we chat about Lori's journey as a writer, translator, actress and model. Join our discussion on cultural differ...

Who was María Pita? In today’s episode, we travel to the city of A Coruña, in foggy, mystical Galicia. After purchasing an antique comb from a young immigrant man, Josefa witnesses a situation of injustice. She is horrified to discover that a dark magic sludge has paralyzed her, preventing her from righting the wrong. The voices trapped in the comb take her back to 1589, when Sir Francis Drake lai...

"I take a deep, enraged breath and whisper back: 'Miguel, I cannot wait to wish you a Merry Christmas.' He looks confused. 'What?' Oh, Miguel. You'll see what I mean." Carla feels a lot of anger and pain. Go caroling with her this holiday season through San Lorenzo de El Escorial’s life-sized monumental Nativity Scene (or as she calls it, an LSD dream) and discover King Phillip II’s massive monast...

“I take a swig of wine from my Don Simón box and whisper at the woman: ‘God’s trying to punish me.’” A man lives on the Madrid metro. He is convinced that God wants him to confess to something he didn’t do. He discovers a macabre secret hidden behind the subway walls. This secret takes him back to 1619 and introduces him to Tirso de Molina, author of Trickster of Seville, and reveals the history o...

-"HAMMER THE SYSTEM, KILL THE SYSTEM." -Men, women, and children in white hoods and robes. Swaying to the beat of drums. Is she a terrorist? -A priest betrayed. A bloody hammer. What has the king done?   A woman attends a secret meeting in a 500-year-old dungeon beneath the streets of Madrid. There, her leader gives her both a symbol and a tool to destroy the people they hate. This object teaches...

-"Don't cry. It makes me cry." -19th-century bandits fighting the Spanish government. -A cave with dark power. After yet another fight with her self-absorbed boyfriend, photographer Clara escapes to her family's mountain cabin in San Rafael to clear her head and take some wildlife shots. There, she discovers a mysterious hidden cave, la Cueva Valiente. Inside is a glowing red necklace, hundreds of...

-Love your mommy or it’ll hurt. Stuffed animals come to life. -Cognac. Ouija boards. Killer pet felines. A monster’s tendrils in the throat. -SUICIDE…OR MURDER? A six-year-old boy with a secret and his plush lion take a tour of the Coracera Castle. He discovers its last owner: Juan Fernández Ganza, an alcoholic grifter obsessed with the occult who believed himself to be the reincarnation of a king...

-Gay drama. Tight white pants. Thirst for revenge. -A philandering King Philip II. A member-shrinking witch. Magic powdered herbs. -13 coins. Skeletons in walls. Ghosts on rooftops. -ARMIES OF WASPS.   You can find the House of the Seven Chimneys here . spanishsundown.com FB, IG, Reddit: @spanishsundown © 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

-A modern-day American immigrant to Madrid. -A centuries-old severed ram’s head. -A murdered priest (with a stupid haircut). They all share a story.   Check out a picture and the location of Calle de la Cabeza here . spanishsundown.com FB, IG, Reddit: @spanishsundown © 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

-A washed-up actress. Sequins. Hair spray. Short shorts. -Roaring 20s. A scheming aristocrat. An obscene playwright. A sex worker. -A revolver under a floor tile. -MURDER.   -See Avenida Alfonso Vidal y Planas in Tijuana here . -See the current location of the brothel featured in Isabel de Ceres here , right on today's Calle Libreros in downtown Madrid. -The Isabel de Ceres play itself here . -The...

Spanish Sundown, coming September 23rd. Subscribe now. spanishsundown.com FB, IG, Reddit: @spanishsundown  © 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.