If you’ve been paying attention to Hallmark’s upcoming movies, you may notice that several of them seem to be connected. The Love on the Danube movies, for instance, were part of May’s lineup, and this month features a special double feature set in Barcelona, Spain. I had the opportunity to speak to the stars of those movies — Hallmark fan favorites Ashley Williams and Alison Sweeney — and they broke down why we’re seeing so many of these on-location series lately.
To Barcelona, With Love will premiere on the 2025 TV schedule on Saturday, June 7, where fans will get to see Alison Sweeney’s Erica develop a friendship with Ashley Williams’ Anna after meeting under professional circumstances. A week later we’ll get a second helping of their Spanish adventures in To Barcelona, Forever, and Williams told CinemaBlend that’s a result of the network tapping in to what viewers want. She said:
Hallmark audiences are the most loyal, loving fans that I've ever known in my career. And I think Hallmark does a really good job when they know that the audience is happy with something, they want to keep them happy, you know? So it's clocking into what our audience is really digging, and then making sure that we keep giving it to them in spades, I think, is one of the superpowers of the network.
Fans of the network do get really invested in the stories and the characters (and maybe even picking up some of those Hallmark life lessons along the way), and it makes sense that audiences would enjoy seeing the same beloved characters in different scenarios. Just look at Alison Sweeney’s Hannah Swensen mysteries!
Speaking of the Days of Our Lives alum, she told me it’s not just about the characters; these on-location series also allow viewers to experience parts of the world they might not otherwise have access to. Sweeney said:
I think also just expanding, like, I think visually, someone said it earlier that this movie is like your passport to Barcelona, like you get to be there with us. It feels very much, like, immersive for the audience, and we really strove to make that happen. So hopefully the audience gets to really enjoy those kinds of feelings.
Indeed, To Barcelona, With Love is not just arbitrarily set in the Spanish city. The film pays homage to Barcelona’s traditions, its food, its language and architecture. Alison Sweeney compared it to how she experiences a different show on TV — The Amazing Race — saying:
I've always been a fan of The Amazing Race for that same reason. I just love sitting at home in the comfort of my PJs and watching people travel the world and getting a sense of, like, ‘Oh, I never knew what that city looked like.’ So I sort of feel like hopefully we offer people that kind of fun, deep look into Barcelona and Spain.
That’s a great comparison, and I love that Hallmark appears to be picking up on how special that is and providing more of these opportunities for fans. In fact, a couple of these types of projects have already been announced for this holiday season.
Hallmark is trying something new this Christmas, with a limited series based in Blexford, England, that will star Mae Whitman looking for love in The Twelve Dates of Christmas. We’re also getting a sequel to last year’s Holiday Touchdown, but instead of the football-inspired romance being set around the Kansas City Chiefs, A Bills Love Story will center around Buffalo’s NFL team and film on location in New York.
Before all that, though, be sure to stamp your passports to Spain in To Barcelona, With Love premiering at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, June 7, on Hallmark and then To Barcelona, Forever, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, June 14.
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