!! Book series
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Angélica de Alquézar is probably the most debated example. Is she heartlessly taking advantage of the [[LoveMakesYouDumb brainless]] Íñigo, or does she genuinely love him despite her manipulations?
* ArcFatigue: For many people, the fact that Pérez-Reverte is so damn slow at releasing the next installments of the series (earlier ones used to be published three years apart from each other, but five whole years passed between books six and the seven, and the last to date was published in '''2011''') is a huge point of contempt.
* HypeBacklash: While ''Alatriste'' will be forever known as the novel series that introduced multiple generations to the Spanish Golden Age, there is also a segment of people that laments that Pérez-Reverte went too far with the cynicism and grittiness of his portrayal, making it look like the period was a full flat CrapsackWorld whose only redeeming value was occasionally producing honorable footsoldiers like Alatriste himself.
* ValuesResonance: ''The King's Gold'' features a mercenary party that includes a homosexual and a black man who kick as much ass as the rest, yet also manages to never break historical credibility in the process (which might surprise readers that only know TheThemeParkVersion of 17th-century Spain). This is especially relevant after TheNewTens, when many period productions courted controversy for performing unrealistic [[RaceLift Race Lifts]] and historical changes for the sake of inclusiveness.

!! TV series
* BileFascination: In an unprecedented case in Spanish TV, viewers actually complained that Telecinco opted not to broadcast the last few episodes of ''Alatriste'' despite how furiously they had dissed the series up to that point. Yep, it came a point in which people actually followed the series for how awful it was.
* MemeticMutation: Many people were mystified that Pérez-Reverte ''praised'' the series, in special aspects like the story and actors, which were widely considered the vilest elements of the show. This spawned several jokes trying to explain it, often speculating Reverte was being blackmailed, bribed or contractually roped by the producers into giving a positive review (the last theory being also entertained seriously).
* {{Narm}}:
** Almost every review pointed out that most of the show's attempts at seriousness were failures, often solely due to bad performances and/or gawdy scenography. The villains in particular were hit hard by this, like Malatesta's utterly weird accent or the Alquézar's change from scheming villains into incompetent idiots.
** One of the most egregious complaints of the secondary cast was that some actors (hailing from Hungary, where the series was shot) ''didn't even speak Spanish'', requiring them to be redubbed in Spain, which broke completely all the immersion due to the obvious contrast. The character of Vicuña had the misfortune of receiving a very recognizable voice, that of famous anime voice actor Creator/JoseMariaCarrero, which might only avoid the bizarreness and hilarity because it sadly turned out to be one of Carrero's last roles before his death the same year.
* QuestionableCasting: The cast was panned by fans and creators alike, noting that it genuinely looked like the casting staff had chosen the ''worst'' actor imaginable for every role. Carmen Sánchez and Marcos Ruiz for Angélica and Íñigo were graphically described as looking like "kids chosen by nepotism for a school play", and Luis Callejo as Luis de Alquézar was considered by many as the equivalent of [[Creator/ChristopherLee Count Dooku]] being played by Creator/JackBlack.
* SoBadItsGood: Even if the series arguably beats to the punch the infamous ''Film/{{Eragon}}'' film when speaking about bad book adaptations, its general ridiculousness and shoddy making made it actually pretty entertaining to watch.
* {{Squick}}: Angélica offering to pay Íñigo with sexual favors is admittedly an element from the books, but in this adaptation, her actress was ''14 years old'' and his actor, while older, only looked ''younger''. How the producers managed to get away with this, even in the early 2010s Spain, nobody knows.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** The main fan uproar came due to the series removing what they saw as the most important element in the books, the relationship between Alatriste and Íñigo. In the books, they are literally a case of LikeASonToMe, and the boy's loyalty to him is such that his only reason to be a soldier is to follow the captain to Flandes. In the series, however, Íñigo is completely indifferent to Alatriste and only sticks with him in order to become a soldier like his father, while Alatriste only sees him as an annoyance.
** Alatriste being changed from a [[TheCynic cynic]] and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney barely moral]] HitmanWithAHeart to a stylish LovableRogue who [[JusticeWillPrevail fights for justice]] was another breaking point, and some even argued it esentially turned the character into his antithesis.
** The fact that the series contains so much humor despite the books being almost completely devoid of comedy was not better received than the previous points, especially after finding out that some legitimately badasses, like Quevedo or Sebastián Copons, had been reduced to BumblingSidekick roles just to add PluckyComicRelief.
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