Trivia / Cocaine Coast

• Approval of God:
  • When the real Sito Miñanco was arrested again for drug trafficking in 2018, a transcript of the series was found in his home.
  • The real Laureano Oubiña asked to meet Carlos Blanco (who obliged). Despite suing the show for his late wife's portrayal, he never questioned the depiction of his own character or his crimes.
• Fake Nationality: While 'nationality' might not necessarily be the word here, averted to an unusual degree, as the series has a largely Galician cast which is not common for a Spanish series broadcast at national level.
  • Javier Rey was born in Noia, which is in the Ria next to the one Miñanco's hometown Cambados is in.
  • Carlos Blanco was born in another town on the exact Ria and lost a brother to the drug epidemic. He joked in an interview that Cocaine Coast was Galicia's equivalent of Cuéntame Cómo Pasó.
• Follow the Leader:
  • An obvious one to Narcos. The book came out on the same year as Narcos's first season, which was criticized in Spain for ignoring or misrepresenting the Spanish branch of Escobar's drug empire. However, the producers claim that they didn't watch Narcos past the first season and that Romanzo Criminale was a bigger influence.
  • In-universe, Miñanco wants to be the "Spanish Pablo Escobar" (and even patterned his looks after him in reality) and the tobacco dons follow him into the drug trade.
  • Also in-universe, Garzón copies the pentiti system from Italy's anti-mafia policy, which earns him criticism as it is unprecedented in Spain.
  • The series composer took the first two lines of the intro from a satyrical monologue.
• Streisand Effect: The Frivolous Lawsuit that pulled the book from stores was the perfect viral promotion, because it didn't affect the show — in fact, Antena 3 released the show months ahead of its original schedule to take full advantage of it — and the book had been in circulation for so long that it wasn't hard to find copies to buy or borrow.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Blanco revealed that a scene showing drunk smugglers throwing bills at each other on the beach as if they were playing with snowballs was shot, but was cut. This scene was based on an event mentioned in the book.
  • Blanco also wanted to play Oubiña in a more comedic way, but was told to tone it down by the producers.