Our 10 Favorite Telenovelas of All Time

Are you as excited as we are about Kate del Castillo’s return to the world of telenovelas with La Reina del Sur?

In the new Telemundo drama, del Castillo plays Teresa Mendoza, an unexpected drug lord. The new soap is based on the best-selling book by the same name written by Spanish author Arturo Pérez Reverte. After Mendoza’s lover, Güero Davila, is killed by drug cartels, she knows she is the next target for the assassins and flees from her small Mexican town to the Costa del Sol in Spain. Eventually, Mendoza becomes a big time Cocaine Queen, running a drug dealing ring spanning three continents—but it becomes clear to Teresa soon enough that there are only two ways out of the drug business: death or jail.
In honor of the first new telenovela to get us super excited in a while, we decided to take a trip down memory lane and round up our ten favorite Spanish-language soaps of all time. Let us know if we forgot any!

1)    La Reina del Sur airs on Telemundo starting in February 2011.

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2) Yo Soy Betty la Fea

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Betty La Fea became an international phenomenon after it originally aired in Colombia in 1999. The story follows Beatriz Aurora Pinzón Solano, aka Betty, who works as a secretary at the fictitious fashion empire, EcoModa. Though she is brilliant, Betty is marginalized at the company because of her looks. Eventually she wins everyone over with her charm and smarts. More than a dozen versions of the telenovela have been made all across the world including the U.S. hit Ugly Betty, starring America Ferrera.


3) Pedro el Escamoso

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This popular telenovela about a hapless womanizer also hailed from Colombia and aired in 2001. Starring Miguel Varoni as Pedro Coral Tavera, a charming but unlucky man who moves from his small town to the big city in search of his fortune, the show was an instant hit. Pedro finds work as a driver for high-powered businessman Cesar Luis Freydell, and falls in love at first sight with the beautiful Paula Divel. Too bad for Pedro that Paula's already head over heels in love with Cesar.


4) Gitanas

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This Mexican telenovela aired in 2004 and was about Maria Salome (played by Ana de la Reguera), a gorgeous gypsy woman who falls in love with a non-gypsy man, or "gayo." In a classic Romeo & Juliet tale, it is love at first sight for Maria and Sebastián—but their union is forbidden by Gypsy law and looked down upon be those in mainstream society that consider the Gypsy way of life inferior.


5) Volver a Empezar

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The Mexican telenvola Volver a Empezar became one of the most popular soap opera's in Televisa's history. Starring Mexican singer Yuri as Reni and Puerto Rican heartthrob Chayenne as hiumself, the story follows Reni through a complicated path of love, fame and redemption. After an accident renders her paralyzed and with amnesia, she leans on her friend Tony and the two eventually fall in love after Reni makes a triumphant return to the stage, fully recovered.


6) Marimar

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Marimar starred Thalia as the titular character, a poor girl who lives on the beach with her loving grandparents. Eventually, Marimar falls in love with Sergio, the son of a wealthy family whose mother will stop at nothing to keep them apart. After Sergio's mother frames Marimar and kills her grandparents, the once innocent girl returns seeking revenge.

7) Muchachitas

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Before Rebelde or RBD, there was Muchachitas for Anahi! Shown on Univisión in the early 1990s, this charming telenovela told the tale of four young women(Mónica, Elena, Leticia and Isabel) who join a special school to pursue their dreams of fame and fortune. All the girls are from different walks of life; Monica is wealthy, Elena is an outside, Leticia is a wanna-be and poor Isabel is engaged to a much older man.


8) Rosa Salvaje

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This is an oldie but a goodie. Starring Verónica Castro as the main character, Rosa, this Mexican telenovela aired in 1987. Rosa is a poor tomboy living on the ouskirts of Mexico City when she meets the wealthy Ricardo while trying to steal plums from his yard. Of course, the two fall in love, but Ricardo's evil sisters want him to marry a wealthy woman to assure their place is society and scheme to keep them apart.

9) Cafe con Aroma de Mujer

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This Colombian soap aired in the early nineties and has one of our favorite telenovela titles of all time. Commended for its accurate portrayal of the coffee industry and beautiful cinematography, Cafe con Aroma de Mujer is about the love between Gaviota, a coffee harvester, and Sebastian Vallejo, the grandson of a powerful coffee businessman. After the two are separated, Gaviota learns that she is pregnant with Sebastian's child and tries to track him down in Europe only to get caught in a web of human trafficking.


10) Soy tu Dueña

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This mega-hit telenovela starred Lucero as one of the most kick-ass heroines we've ever seen on a soap opera. Valentina Villalba (Lucero) is a beautiful heiress with bad luck in love. After moving away to the country to run her hacienda in isolation due to the betrayal of her fiance, Valentina finds herself caught up in a complicated web of lies, love and loyalty. Eventually, she is able to find true love with Jose Miguel Montesinos, a rich neighbor whose land Valentina tries to purchase. Airing in 2010,Soy tu Dueña was so popular it set new rating highs for Univision.















Credited to  Mariela Rosario

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