Zorro: La espada y la rosa

Spanish telenovela based on Johnston McCulley's characters. Don Diego Dela Vega, adopts the secret identity of Zorro. Diego born in the 1790s to a white father, Don Alejandro Dela Vega, and his wife, Native American warrior named Toypurnia. Diego learned his acrobatics and fencing skills in Spain, under a great swordmaster, than he returned to his family's California hacienda. He lives as both a nobleman and a vigilante, fighting imperialist oppression. He is backed by the brotherhood of Zorro, a secret society called the Knights of the Broken Thorn. Zorro falls in love with a beautiful young widow, Esmeralda Sánchez de Moncada. She arrives in California with her sister Mariángel Sánchez de Moncada and her father, Fernando, the newly appointed governor—and villainous dictator—of Los Angeles. The story arc focuses on mysteries concerning Esmeralda's long-lost mother and the man whose atrocities changed Diego's life forever. Their resolution threatens to shake the Spanish Empire.

Zorro: La espada y la rosa (2007) is a United States-produced Spanish-language telenovela western created by Johnston McCulley and broadcast on Telemundo. Christian Meier plays Diego de la Vega, a California nobleman who secretly becomes the masked vigilante El Zorro, while Marlene Favela plays Esmeralda Sánchez de Moncada, the newly arrived young widow he falls for. Osvaldo Ríos plays his father Alejandro de la Vega, and Arturo Peniche plays Fernando Sánchez de Moncada, the governor whose rule Diego must undermine. Diego's engine is a double life: he must keep his noble face intact while fighting imperialist oppression with his swordsmanship and the backing of a secret brotherhood called the Knights of the Broken Thorn. The show runs as a single season of 122 hour-long episodes, built as a long serialized melodrama in which each episode pushes forward romantic entanglements, rival schemes and hidden family mysteries. Its story turns on questions about Esmeralda's long-lost mother and a past atrocity that shaped Diego's life. Set in Spanish colonial Los Angeles in the 1790s, it blends the swashbuckling spirit of a western with the heightened emotion of the telenovela tradition. Tone runs from romantic and earnest to dramatic and sharp-tongued. Fans of The Mask of Zorro, the 1957 Zorro series and Yo soy Betty, la fea will find resonance in its mix of masked heroics, sweeping romance and sustained melodrama.

Audiences rate the telenovela as mixed, with its melodrama and swashbuckling appeal drawing a modest following.

• El Zorro: La Espada y la Rosa (1990)shared swashbuckling masked vigilante premise and spanish-language telenovela romance
• Zorro (1957)shared masked hero fighting colonial oppression in a california-set western with romance
• The Mask of Zorroshared costumed hero living a double identity with a romantic rivalry and swordplay
• Yo soy Betty, la feashared latin american telenovela form with long-running romance and melodrama

Created by

Johnston McCulley

Release Date

2007-02-12

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

6.9 / 10 (63)

What is Zorro: La espada y la rosa about?

A nobleman secretly fights colonial tyranny as the masked Zorro while falling for the governor's daughter in this Spanish-language western telenovela.

What is Zorro: La espada y la rosa like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Zorro: La espada y la rosa as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Zorro: La espada y la rosa violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Zorro: La espada y la rosa as mild.

What did critics think of Zorro: La espada y la rosa?

Audiences rate the telenovela as mixed, with its melodrama and swashbuckling appeal drawing a modest following.

Which shows are like Zorro: La espada y la rosa?

Shows with a similar feel include El Zorro: La Espada y la Rosa (1990), Zorro (1957), The Mask of Zorro, and Yo soy Betty, la fea.

How long is Zorro: La espada y la rosa?

Zorro: La espada y la rosa: 1 season, 122 episodes.

Is Zorro: La espada y la rosa still running?

No, Zorro: La espada y la rosa has ended.