La Reina del Sur

The series is based on the homonymous novel by Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte, adapted for television by Roberto Stopello and Valentina Párraga.

Pérez-Reverte stated that a major source of inspiration for his novel was the corridos, Mexican country-polka songs that tell stories of real drug traffickers.

One of the real characters that inspired the novel is Sandra Ávila Beltrán, known as 'The Queen of the South', one of the first women drug traffickers to reach the rank of leader within Mexican cartels.

With a budget of 10 million dollars, the first season was the most expensive telenovela produced by Telemundo up to that point (later surpassed by 'El Señor de los Cielos').

The premiere of the series on February 28, 2011 gathered 2.40 million viewers, becoming the most-watched fiction premiere in Telemundo's history.

There is an English-language remake titled 'Queen of the South', starring Alice Braga, which premiered in June 2016 on USA Network.

The story of the series takes place 90% in Spain, with scenes also shot in Mexico, Colombia, Morocco, the United States, and Russia.

The second season was distributed exclusively outside the United States, mainly in Latin America and Spain, through Netflix starting August 16, 2019, as part of its original content.