![]() |
Jaime Lorente scored the lead role in El Cid |
A set of more than 43,000 square feet, natural settings, hundreds of extras, special effects, eight screen writers and a team of more than 200 professionals and 11,000 people involved, yep, that definitely sounds like one major project:
Amazon's new Spanish language epic series
EL CID is, as Variety reports, one of the most ambitious original Amazon productions to date in all of Europe and the largest historical series ever shot in Castilian Spanish. And now they've also set the cast for the unique project of extremely lavish scope: popular Spanish actor
Jaime Lorente will take the lead role of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in a series inspired by the legendary medieval war hero, whose deeds inspired one of the most important of medieval Spanish epic poems,
El Cantar de Mio Cid. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar is a fascinating figure, a true hero whose exploits have been
![]() |
Alvaro Rico, Daniel Tatay and Francisco Ortiz |
perpetuated over the centuries and who has been played by Charlton Heston in the famous classic Hollywood movie. He lived in times when the struggles for power and the coexistence of cultures turned the Iberian Peninsula into a border between two worlds in conflict. This one will be directed by
Adolfo ![]() |
Jaime Olias, Nicolas Illoro and Amr Waked |
Martínez with two-time Oscar winning composer
Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel) writing the original music. The series is already shooting in Soria and will continue in Burgos and Aragon, where the Sultanate of Zaragoza will be recreated.
Amazon Prime will air the series in more than 200 countries around the world.
Who Is In The Cast? Jaime Lorente will play Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, accompanied by
José Luis García Pérez in the role of King Fernando I the Great,
Elia Galera as Queen Sancha la Bella,
Carlos Bardem as the Count of León and
![]() |
Jose Luis Garcia, Carlos Bardem and Gines Garcia Milan |
Juan Echanove in the role of bishop.
Alicia Sanz joins the team as the Infanta Urraca,
Francisco Ortiz will be Sancho the Strong,
Jaime Olías will play Alfonso VI,
Lucía Guerrero is Jimena,
Lucía Díez will be the Infanta Elvira,
Nicolás Illoro is King García,
Juan Fernández is Rodrigo,
![]() |
Alicia Sanz, Zohar Liba and Elia Galera |
the El Cid's grandfather,
Pablo Álvarez will be Orduño,
Ginés García Millán will be King Ramiro de Navarra,
Daniel Tatay is Beltrán the son of Ramiro,
David Castillo is the squire Lisardo and
Álvaro Rico is Nuño. The cast is completed by
Amr Waked, who plays the Sultan of Zaragoza Al-Muqtadir and
Zohar Liba as Abu Bakr.