Al fondo hay sitio (Spanish: There's Room in the Back) is a Peruvian comedy television series released in March 2009 by Efraín Aguilar. The story revolves around two very different families living in the same neighbourhood, the Gonzales (a low-class family who have just moved from Huamanga, Ayacucho) and the Maldini (a rich and powerful family with a high economic status). It is one of the most popular telenovelas in Peru and is now being shown in Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Plot
Season 1 One of the most exclusive areas of Lima, "Las Lomas", is shaken up by the arrival of the Gonzales family from Huamanga, Ayacucho. The family settled in a half-built house they inherited. Their peasant traditions infuriate the neighbors, especially the family living opposite them, the Maldinis. The Maldinis are the richest family in all of Las Lomas, however, they still cannot find a way to get rid of the newcomers. Amid this confrontation, the Ferrands, another neighboring family, befriend the newcomers.
Pepe and Tito receive an offer from Miguel Ignacio for $120,000. Pepe was about to accept, but just his mother and the family of his deceased brother arrived, so he decided to reject M. Ignacio's offer. Nelly realizes that her son was going to sell the house, without giving the part of it to Lucho, so they decide to go to Miguel Ignacio to reject her offer. This angry one swears that sooner or later he will destroy that house.
Joel, Charo's son, meets Fernanda, Miguel Ignacio's daughter, in whom he falls in love with her at first sight, and greets her by dancing and asking her name in badly pronounced English. Which he dislikes and runs away from the new neighbor. Meanwhile, Grace, Charo's youngest daughter, can't stand life in Lima and prefers to return to Huamanga, where she left her crush Kevin, so she decides to elope at night from home. But he is run over by Nicolás, the eldest son of M. Ignacio and Isabella. Terrified he asks Peter for help and they take her to the nearest clinic. Peter forces Nicolás to stay with Grace, she wakes up in the morning and falls in love with him at first sight, Nicolás lies to the doctor who is in love with him so they won't press charges.
Miguel Ignacio is unfaithful to Isabella, with his secretary named Liliana, one day they meet Pepe and Tito on the bus, the latter falls in love with Liliana and tries to woo her, which she is indifferent to this, because for her Tito is a poor boy, unlike Miguel Ignacio, who promised to leave his family for her.
Fernanda, has a lover who does not belong to the same sociocultural class that they usually frequent, so they reject that relationship, especially Miguel Ignacio, who on a date with Liliana, hears Fabricio talking on the phone that he would take his girlfriend to a "telo" (a hostel that couples go to), which Miguel Ignacio disliked and ordered Peter to throw him out of the house. Fernanda in revenge decides to use Joel to anger her family.
Camila, Fernanda's best friend, gives her advice to invite Joel to her house, which Fernanda dislikes but accepts. Her family gets angry at the beginning, but Peter advises them that only a rebellious stage and the best thing is that they continue with Fernanda's game. The Gonzales arrive at night to celebrate the "union" of the couple. Fernanda realizes that things are getting out of hand, Joel tries to kiss her, but Fernanda pushes him away and confesses that she only did that to annoy her family, which depresses Joel and her family is offended by the house of the Maldini. Meanwhile Liliana and Tito both reconcile and confirm their wedding to the Gonzales, to Miguel Ignacio's disgust.
Minutes later, Liliana decides not to marry Tito on the very day of her marriage and leaves him planted at the altar. She then she goes to the construction company and asks Miguel Ignacio to elope together. But Miguel Ignacio warns her that he will never marry her, because he does not want to abandon his family. Consequently, Liliana, regretful of everything that has happened, decides to move away from "Las Lomas" forever, after having lost the opportunity to be happy because of her ambition. But it was too late, because Isabella, after discovering that they were both lovers, decides to divorce Miguel Ignacio and throws him out of the house.
Francesca gives Fernanda a scholarship to Boston University, in order to separate her from Joel, meanwhile Charo and Raúl kiss and start a romance after so long. In the last scene, Claudia Zapata, the former secretary of the construction company, reviews some documents, and finally discovers the secret of Francesca Maldini.
Season 2
When Peter discovers that Claudia is manipulating Mike and convinces him to leave Fernanda, Claudia kidnaps Peter, shoots him in the chest and leaves him for dead. Claudia attempts to flee the country with money embezzled from the company but is spotted by Mike at the airport, who is also leaving after his attempts to win back Fernanda fail. Having heard of Peter's plight, Mike prevents Claudia from boarding the plane and she is subsequently arrested. While Peter is recovering in the hospital, Francesca overhears Peter in his sleep and under the effects of anesthesia saying that he has always loved her.
Peter recovers only to find out his secret love is well known by everybody and Francesca does not share the same feeling. Soon everybody finds out because Gilberto, Nelly's husband, accidentally tells her. Determined to make Francesca look bad, she tells the whole family. At the same time, Grace and the newly changed Cayetana are planning Gianfranco's (Grace's boyfriend of whom she is convinced will make her forget about Nicolas) birthday which is sought out to be huge. While Cayetana seems to have changed, she plans the party as a trap for Grace and Nicolas (who returns to being her boyfriend after learning that she "changed"). It was when dancing that she reveals Grace's love for Nicolas and proceeds to pours a large amount of mud on them, embarrassing them in front of all the high society guests at the party. Minutes later, Cayetana was locked up in a madhouse by his parents, and Grace then breaks up with Gianfranco knowing that she can never forget about Nicolas.
Meanwhile, Mike succeeds in winning back Fernanda because she thinks it is over and decides he was the best thing that happened to her. Joel is also starting to reconstruct his love life because his co-worker Andrea is in love with him. He, on the other hand, is convinced that she is almost like a guy friend to him and that there will be nothing more. After learning that, Andrea tells him and Joel finally returns her love. Even though she really loves him, she is insecure and is afraid that Joel will go running back to Fernanda.
One day Claudia calls Mike, and makes him believe that she had a mental breakdown which led her to commit her crime. At first, Mike does not believe in her, but at the end he starts visiting her. Unfortunately it is all a trap because somebody that Claudia knows takes a picture of Mike and Claudia kissing. Then Claudia sends that picture to Fernanda and Francesca causing the breakup of Mike's relationship with Fernanda for the second time and after that Mike leaves Lima. Meanwhile, Miguel Ignacio, falls in love with Gladys and they start a project by selling juanes. With a lot of effort they are able to open a restaurant called "¡Ay, La Gladys!" (Lit. Oh Gladys!). But he has to face a problem: Regaining the love of his children who are ashamed of their father. After finding out that his father is poor and is working in a market with Gladys, Nicolas learns to accept it. Fernanda, however, does not. After regaining the love of his daughter, Miguel Ignacio's restaurant is burned down and he loses everything. Later, viewers learn that the fire was caused by Claudia's friend from prison. After losing the restaurant Miguel Ignacio, overwhelmed by the debts, decides to escape by leaving Gladys.
While Miguel Ignacio is trying to escape, he receives a call from Claudia and finds out that she was the one who orchestrated the destruction of his restaurant. After realizing that he is helpless Miguel Ignacio decides to join Claudia. After his bold decision, Claudia tells him how to accomplish what he wants more than anything in the world - to get back at Francesca. She tells him a secret and Miguel Ignacio uses it to blackmail Francesca into giving him back his old job as General Manager. Meanwhile, Luciana, Raul and Susu's daughter return for Raul and Charo's wedding. Grace feels threatened because Nicolas and Luciana used to be a couple. When a rumor is spread by Isabella and Susu that Nicolas and Luciana are back as a couple, Grace furiously tells Nicolas everything she feels for him. After days without talking, Nicolas realizes that he loves Grace and that they should not be friends, but should date instead. After sharing a kiss with Grace, he leaves for her mother's wedding. On his way there, he almost crashes into a truck.
Charo marries Raul in Las Lomas, and Isabella does the same with Leonardo in a hotel in Paracas. He dedicates a song to Isabella, to which they dance. When everything is over he reads a message that Claudia gave him and throws it into the water, revealing he is the brother of Claudia. Back at Las Lomas, everything seems to go well until an unexpected guest (Lucho Gonzales) arrives at the Gonzales' house, leaving everyone in shock and making Charo faint.
Francesca, overwhelmed by the blackmailing of Miguel Ignacio, leaves the hotel with Peter following. When they are in the car, she starts to cry and reveals her secret to Peter: Isabella is not her daughter.
Season 3 The first episode describes how Charo and Lucho's marriage was like 22 years ago, and what happens afterwards. Miguel Ignacio gains back his original post at the construction management office and calls Gladys, rekindling their relationship.
Days later, Charo decides to board a plane with Raul for a getaway, but she ends up deserting him and heads back home, as she feels that she is abandoning her children. Later, she finds Raul and tells him that she wants to leave with him, but he rejects her as he felt hurt after she had deserted him. They both get divorced, as conflicting relationships arise with Lucho's presence. Later, Raul meets Renata Newman, whom he starts a relationship with to forget about Charo. Charo, in return, goes back to being Lucho's wife, without knowing that he hides a secret from her.
Pepe, Tito, and Joel go to Rio de Janeiro, due to a website they joined. Later, Fernanda (out of jealousy towards the relationship that Joel has with another girl named Andrea) makes a blown-up picture of Joel making out with a girl he met in Rio. Consequently, Andrea breaks up with him. Claudia Zapata is released from prison, with every intention to make the people who hurt her pay.
In an act of vengeance, Isabella, along with Francesca and Peter, smothers Doña Nelly with paint. In retaliation, Nelly says that Isabella is not Francesca's real daughter in front of her, giving Francesca a panic attack, most of all because Isabella calls up her mysterious sister, Rafaella, to tell her the truth. Rafaella tells Isabella that she is neither the daughter of Francesca Maldini nor of Bruno Picasso, but they both love her as if she were their real daughter.
Claudia makes friends with Grace Gonzales, but later Grace realizes that Claudia was only trying to manipulate her. Peter, the Maldini's butler, later sees Claudia and Leonardo, Isabella's new husband, talking. This is something that makes him suspicious. Peter then leaves the Maldini house to go live in the Gonzales' due to "Madam" (his name for Francesca) and her mistrust of him. He then returns to his old post because Tito's mother, Maria Juana Smith, was harassing him, and because he knew that Francesca wouldn't really pay any attention to him.