Crims -  the Catalan true crime megahit

With true crime fever taking over the world, it was no wonder that the Catalan true crime show Crims took viewers by storm. Since 2018, host and narrator Carles Porta has been leading a real phenomenon, first as a radio show and in 2020 as an hour-long TV show on Catalan public broadcaster, TV3.   

On Monday nights, true crime enthusiasts across Catalonia gather to enjoy the eerie descriptions of bloody crimes and mysteries - have a listen to our latest Filling the Sink podcast on the topic.

Since its inception, Porta has helped the show to accumulate over 46 million downloads across radio, TV and digital platforms, and over 1 million viewers tuned in when the fourth season aired in March. 

Light in the dark

According to Anna Punsí, content director on Crims, one of the reasons why the show has become such a huge success, is because of the host: "He has a lot of charisma, he speaks and narrates really well, and he has a very special voice". "It gets you hooked", she concludes.  

His catchphrase "Intentarem posar llum a la foscor" ("We will try to shed light on the darkness", in Catalan), spoken with a raspy voice before the beginning of each episode while he looks calmly into the camera, invites the viewers to become co-investigators of the crime. 

Sitting on the edge of the couch, some viewers pause and replay parts of the show in order to get all the pieces of information right, almost transforming their living rooms into dimly-lit police stations. It is not unusual to overhear conversations among the viewers piecing together the puzzle at workplaces, in schools or online.     

The show tells the real stories based on facts, such as testimonies of the victims and the people who were there when the crime took place, rather than using experts. Other authentic material that Crims makes use of includes private photos or videos; surveillance tapes, TV- or news reports, digital material like chats or emails and of course, the evidence shown during real-life trials. 

This activates the viewer's inner detective and, according to Anna Punsí "leads us to take part in the story and to empathize" with what is happening, and what the victims and their relatives have gone through. 

The descriptions of the crimes can be macabre. And the hosts does warn almost philosophically about it at the beginning of the program: "We describe real crimes, and reality and death do not know of sensitivities" ("Relatem crims reals, la realitat i la mort no entenen de sensibilitats," in Catalan).

Maximum respect

Surprisingly, the visuals of the show that are used to recreate scenes rarely are too bloody, instead simultaneously haunting and oddly serene. 

"What interests us are the surroundings", explains Anna Punsí: " if the drawers have been messed up, or the fingerprints that have showed up, or the slippers that have a bloodstain, but not that the victim is lying flat on the ground. If you show a little part, you try to cut the frame a bit and show a part of the bed, a hand or something that clearly shows that a crime has been committed and that what has happened is real, but without showing too much blood."

According to Punsí, blood doesn’t bring anything to the image, so instead they rely on symbols that are relevant to the story. 

"The main premise is always to try to do it with a maximum of respect. Carles always says that we have to imagine the person to be someone close to us", the content director underlines, "Everything that you can show in a more elegant or respectful way will always work in our favor."

Crims has also crossed over into the world of literature and Carles Porta has authored half a dozen books on different crimes committed. The latest, "Crims: Grans Pecats" was the second most sold non-fiction book during this year’s Sant Jordi. 

However, the show has not only been hugely successful with the audience, it has also received the approval of the industry. In 2021, Crims was awarded "Best Radio Program" in the Onda Award, the oldest and most prestigious audiovisual awards in Spain.  

The latest example of Crims’ widespread success, has been the airing of the eight-episode Netflix thriller series "Burning Body" based on the "Guardia Urbana crime," that aired in 2021 as part of Crims. "Money Heist"-actress Úrsula Corberó and actor Quim Gutierrez play the real-life lovers and police officers in the local Barcelona police force, Rosa Peral and Albert López, convicted of killing Pedro Rodríguez, then-fiance of Peral.

The fifth season of the true crime series is set to air in February of 2024. Until then, all previous episodes can be seen on TV3 and listened to on Catalunya Ràdio, the Catalan public radio station.