A small central Iowa town will be one of a handful of American cities highlighted in a Spanish documentary. Eloy Parra, a filmmaker from Madrid, Spain, says he put "Madrid" in a weather site to get the forecast one day and was surprised to see so many other Madrids in the U-S. He wanted to learn more and share his knowledge.
Parra says, "I thought this would make an interesting story for people in Spain who, like me, until a couple of months ago, do not know of the existence of all these towns in the U.S. called Madrid." Parra packed his bags and camera gear and traveled to America to visit each of the nine Madrids.
"We went to Madrid, Iowa, from there we traveled all the way to Madrid, Nebraska, and now we are in Colorado where there is another Madrid," he says. In addition to those three, Parra says there are Madrids in New Mexico, New York, Maine, Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky — and he plans to visit each one.
Parra says the Madrids they visited in the Midwest had a unique disposition. "What we saw was a small town with very, very strong family values, hard-working people and stong religious values as well," he says. "We were struck by the warmth of the people who welcomed us." Parra will visit the Madrids in Colorado and New Mexico before heading back to Spain.
Next summer, he plans to visit the remaining towns in the U.S. and then will begin work on editing his footage to create a documentary. At this point, Parra is uncertain how he will release his documentary, but hopes to have it hit public television, among other media outlets, in the next couple of years.