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The Cuban actress Laura de la Uz shared an emotional post this week on her Facebook profile about the first day of filming for the Spanish series "Barrio Esperanza," in which she works alongside actor Mariano Peña, who is globally renowned for his iconic role as Mauricio Colmenero in "Aída."
"With the king, Mariano Peña on the first day of filming. Everyone in Cuba loves and admires Mariano, from his charismatic character in the series Aída. And I must say that when I found out I was going to work with him, I was thrilled," wrote De la Uz.
The Havana actress described her co-star as "a master in timing and gesture in comedy" and emphasized that they both share "the same discipline and respect for the work."
"We had a good laugh," he added, inviting his followers to share words of affection and admiration for the Spanish actor.
In "Barrio Esperanza," De la Uz portrays Fátima Cruz Ramírez, a direct and sarcastic Cuban teacher who views the conflicts of a Madrid school as "first-world problems."
Mariano Peña brings to life Don Antonio, a teacher on the verge of retirement who embodies the "old school." Peña himself described the character in a recent interview with El País as someone who "smells of camphor but exudes a lot of tenderness."
"Barrio Esperanza" is a social comedy consisting of eight episodes produced by Globomedia for La 1 of RTVE, created by Iván Escobar and Antonio Sánchez Olivas.
Filming began in July 2025 in Madrid, and the series premiered on April 19, 2026, with extraordinary results: an average of 1,611,000 viewers and a 15.3% audience share, the best debut of a weekly drama on La 1 in six years. With delayed viewing, the number rose to over two million viewers.
The connection between Mariano Peña and the Cuban audience runs deep. "Aída" - in which the actor portrayed Mauricio Colmenero for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014 - is one of the most beloved series in Cuba, where many fans have watched it more than 20 times despite it never having aired officially on the island.
In August 2024, Mariano Peña and Melani Olivares visited Cuba and were received with tremendous enthusiasm by Cuban fans, during a visit that also included a meeting with Ana de Armas in Havana.
This year, Peña returned to his most famous character in the film "Aída y Vuelta," whose premiere in the United States took place in Miami on February 5 as a tribute to Cuban and Latino fans.
On her part, Laura de la Uz has built a solid career in Spanish television: she starred in the series "El corredor de la muerte" on Movistar+ in 2019 and was part of the cast of "UPA Next" in its new season in 2022.
"I cannot hate Mauricio Colmenero, I owe a lot to that man," Mariano Peña acknowledged in the same interview with El País, summarizing the impact of a character who, decades later, continues to unite actors from both sides of the Atlantic.
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