We’re excited to announce the launch of our first Scribd Originals title in Spanish, No fue penal: Una jugada en dos tiempos, available now.
Written by one of Mexico's leading authors, Juan Villoro, No fue penal tells the story of a Mexican rising futbol star who gets injured badly and ends up as a bitter referee. Narrated by actors José María de Tavira and Martín Altomaro, No fue penal is an auditory experience, where the sharp narrative, precise performances, and unique sound design evoke themes such as adjusting to failure, being Mexican, and the terrifying ghost of the "what would have been." No fue penal: Una jugada en dos tiempos features two, 45-minute “periods,” mirroring a soccer match.
In No fue penal: Una jugada en dos tiempos, Valeriano Fuentes, a rising figure in the country’s most popular sport, and a promising player who represented hope for quality futbol and World Cup aspirations, is injured badly by his best friend, El Tanque, during training. This happened unintentionally… at least that’s what El Tanque says. Many more World Cups go by — while Mexico remains unclassified — and Valeriano and El Tanque finally meet again. The broken promise is now a video referee and the alleged traitor is a run-down coach whose destiny is in midfield. What cruel move lies in store for both of them?
“Our Spanish-speaking readers have spent countless hours consuming audiobooks produced by Scribd Audio Spanish over the past year, and we’re thrilled to expand our Spanish-language content offering through the launch of our first Spanish Scribd Originals title,” says Javier "Baxter" Aceves, Senior Manager of International Content Acquisition at Scribd. “This immersive auditory experience is testament to the people of Mexico and our love of soccer, and we are honored to have the ability to bring it to life in partnership with Juan Villoro, Martín Altomaro, and José María de Tavira, who previously brought his vocal talents to our launch of Comedia earlier this year, and who we were pleased to partner with again.”
Scribd started operations in Mexico in October 2019 and has more than 100,000 Spanish-language premium ebook and audiobook titles on the platform. To further prioritize the creation of high-quality and authentic Spanish-language content, Scribd introduced the Scribd Audio Spanish program in 2021. In March 2022, Scribd Audio Spanish released its first celebrity-narrated title: Comedia, narrated by José María de Tavira and directed by Miguel Santa Rita Sandoval. In August 2022, Scribd Audio Spanish launched its first, original Spanish-speaking podcast, Lee/Escucha, and earlier this month, the program released a new audio anthology collection — Me tienes en tus manos — featuring Mexican poet Jaime Sabines’ greatest works and narrated by actor Tenoch Huerta.
