Jody Serrano
Editor in chiefEditor in Chief at Xataka On. Before joining Webedia, I was a tech reporter at Gizmodo and The Messenger. While I've covered all sorts of things related to technology, I'm specialized in writing about social media, Internet culture, Twitch, and streamers.
Over the last few days, a video of a tan and built man screaming in despair and running across the beach has inundated social media. It's often accompanied by a key phrase, “Montoya, por favor.”
The man in the images is José Carlos Montoya, a contestant on Spanish version of Temptation Island. This is how he became a worldwide meme.
“Montoya, por favor.” The phrase represents a key moment in the clip, though we don’t hear it right away. First, we see Montoya viewing a live feed of his girlfriend Anita kissing and having sex with another man. Montoya is obviously distraught, screaming, “You’ve shattered me!” at the screen. He then proceeds to run off to the beach, prompting the show’s presenter, Sandra Barneda, to shout, “Montoya, por favor,” in an attempt to get him to come back.
Montoya’s rise to memedom is curious because the clip that made him a household name—online, anyway—is in Spanish. However, it quickly began gaining steam online among English-speakers after being shared by @PopCulture2000s on Feb. 4.
Click on the image to view the post on X.
The caption was simple: “this is CINEMA…Montoya..the tension… you don’t need to speak spanish to understand, this is insane”
To date, the original clip by @PopCulture2000s has been viewed more than 219 million times. Subsequent clips of Montoya on the account have received 64.2 million and 169 million views, respectively.
The meme heard round the world. It seemed like many users agreed with @PopCulture2000s' assessment. They didn’t have to speak Spanish to understand what Montoya was saying. The pain and despair was intuitive—it was real. Pretty soon, users were using images of Montoya distraught on the beach to comment on the situations happening in their own lives.
Some used it to comment on characters “going through the miscommunication trope” in a book. Others said it was the perfect embodiment of what Kanye West’s PR team must be feeling after his recent barrage of racist, offensive, and pornographic posts.
Click on the image to view the post on X.
“I’ll never get over this. The most dramatic scene in reality tv history. Eradicated language barriers and transcended cultures. Sensational,” @katieogunsakin said in a post on X.
Even brands started to get in on the joke, with the Boston Celtics, U.S. Open Tennis, Crunchyroll, Formula 1, and the San Francisco 49ers gleefully posting: “MONTOYA POR FAVOR.” The meme wasn’t limited to English and Spanish speakers, spreading to Italian, French, and Brazilian communities, as well.
José Carlos Montoya, a contestant on La isla de las tentaciones.
Why did it resonate? While Montoya’s clip is certainly entertaining, the question remains: Why made it stand out in the sea of never-ending content? There doesn’t appear to be just one answer. On one hand, spectators appeared to be drawn to the raw emotion and pain Montoya displayed. They were also amazed at how he apparently lost his mind for a hot moment, running down the beach and screaming his lungs out.
This authenticity something that’s usually absent from English reality TV, which some criticize for being too smooth and scripted.
"10/10 performance. They would never allow this on uk tv for so many reasons but it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen," Maya Jama, the UK host for Love Island said in response to the Montoya video.
There was also another aspect that caught viewers’ attention: the sex. Spain’s La isla de las tentaciones showed Montoya’s girlfriend, Anita, having sex with another man in somewhat explicit detail. While no body parts were shown, movements and sounds certainly left nothing to the imagination. This is, again, not something you normally see on English reality shows.
A lasting impact. If anything, La isla de las tentaciones showed viewers just what reality TV could be: messy, dramatic, and full of unexpected twists and turns. Case in point: After Anita had sex with another man, she tearfully ran into Montoya’s arms and told the presenter that she wanted to leave the island and go home with him. As a reminder, we’ve gone from running down the beach to insults to tears in a span of 10 minutes.
Many have said that the gauntlet has been thrown for reality TV, and I would have to agree. If you’re going to market something as being a reflection of real life, you should try to actually capture real life along with all its messes. Given the impact of the “Montoya, por favor” meme, it seems audiences are certainly hungry for it.
Reality TV likely hasn't seen the last of Montoya. As for the man of the moment, there are already rumors that he'll appear in Spain's version of Survivor this year, though nothing is confirmed yet.
"i’m not surprised, he’s good for tv lol," @PopCulture2000s said.
Images | Telecinco
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