Channel 2 Iceland has ordered the character-driven series starring Under the Tree’s Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson.

Iceland’s seasoned writer/director Ragnar Bragason (The Shift series, Prisoners, Metalhead) is serving as creator and head-writer on the 8x30’ series, currently in development.

Rising writing talent Snjólaug Lúðvíksdóttir (Stella Blómkvist) is attached as co-writer, while commercials and music video wunderkid Magnús Leifson (2019 Edda winner with his short film Dovetail) will be making his debut in long-form storytelling.

Set in 1979, Magaluf is a romantic comedy drama, capturing the mood and social issues of the time, such as the rise of feminism and gay discrimination.

The character-driven show centres on the hot DJ Halli (36) who puts his career on hold in Iceland to try to win over his former high-school sweetheart Karen (36), working on a documentary film in Mallorca’s party resort of Magaluf. But this is where the real problems start for Halli. He has never travelled abroad and lacks the skills to handle a group of Icelandic package-holidayers. On top of that, Karen shows up on the trip with her Danish boyfriend Christian.

Producer and Glassriver co-owner Hordur Runarsson says “the series is a wonderful escapism to a different time, where challenges were different. Not only [due to] the travelling without mobile phones and internet, but also gender equality and LBGT+ rights were far from what we consider normal in today’s society,” he said, adding: “We address this change from 1979 to 2022, with characters that have to deal with these issues during that time.”

The series will be shot mostly in Icelandic and organically in other languages, including English, Danish, Spanish and German.

Magaluf has been selected for the Conecta Fiction & Entertainment industry pitching event in Toledo, Spain (June 21-24), where Rúnarsson hopes to find Iberian and international partners to close the 40% gap financing. “We are ready to film this winter, provided we’re financed, otherwise we’ll go for 2023,” said the producer who is also looking for pre-sales and co-financing from the Nordics.

Magaluf is the second series that Rúnarsson hopes to co-produce with Iberian partners after Cold Haven, currently in development with Portuguese co-producers SPi. “We expect to do more as this warm area holds a special place in the Icelandic population from the cold island, he noted.

The Icelandic series will be platformed at Conecta’s Pitch CoPro Series, alongside nine international TV shows, including the Finnish comedy Sweet Sixty (Parasta jälkeen) produced by Tuffi Films.

An increasingly popular spot to seal partnerships with the booming Spanish audiovisual industry, Conecta Fiction & Entertainment has invited prominent guest speakers for its 6th edition including UK showrunner Ben Harris (executive producer and writer of Young Wallander for Yellow Bird/Netflix) and Lars Blomgren, Banijay Head of Scripted.