MADRID, Spain — No fangs, no shrieking boy-crazy teenagers, and not a drop of blood to spare.

Opening day was overwhelmingly disappointing.

"Twilight," the biting and lovesick youth romance set in the damp and dreary Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, was so popular in Spain two years ago that distributors rewarded fans by premiering its sequel, "New Moon," two days before it opened in the U.S.

Given that films are usually delayed several months before making their way across the Atlantic into Spanish theaters, "New Moon's" early release was highly unusual.

But while the United States waits for Friday, Nov. 20, with baited breath for its official release, Spaniards seem to have squandered their two-day head start on the saga of Edward Cullen the brooding vampire and his 17-year-old human love interest, Bella Swan, in Forks, Wash.

Last week, slews of screaming fans welcomed "New Moon" stars Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Taylor Lautner (Jacob) and director Chris Weitz in Madrid for a  promotional event.

But when the clock struck 12 midnight Wednesday, and a sliver of moon appeared in Madrid's dark sky, the streets were deserted for the official release. Although distributors could have showed the movie at midnight, the first showings weren't until 4 p.m. the next afternoon. And when 4 p.m. rolled around, the crowds were no larger than those for a normal, run-of-the-mill film.

Quite a letdown compared to the red-carpet premiere that took place yesterday in Westwood, Calif., two days before the official release.

"In case you weren’t one of the thousands of screaming fans camping out for hours on the streets of Los Angeles for a glimpse of the 'New Moon' cast, here’s a rundown of what you missed: celebrities, vampires, werewolves, rock stars, a few thousand-plus of the most devoted Twilighters and Twi-hards in the world and the ever-present, ear-piercing sounds of unadulterated fan adoration," reported FearNet.

"New Moon's" Spanish premiere lacked all the theatrics of the six Harry Potter movies, where  Hermione look-likes, wands and lightning bolt scars were out in force over the years.

In Sydney, Australia, "Hordes of screaming girls and a sprinkling of lads could hardly wait for the midnight screening of the long awaited follow-up to Twilight to begin," reported the International Business Times.

Even more incredible is that the first version of "New Moon" being released here is dubbed in Spanish. No sloppy subtitles: Edward and Bella and Jacob's triangle romance will unfold with all the suavity of a Latin lover.

How did "Twilight" find such a large following in Spain? And how did "New Moon" become "Luna Nueva?"

"Because it has everything we like: handsome guys, a love story, fantasy,” said Adriana Almarza Albo, a student from Torrejon.

“We are the best fans in the world, and [in Spain] the books were received even better than was expected. As thanks, they are giving us the movie first,” she said.

However, Spain's love for "Twilight," was not at first sight. The romance grew to current proportions over the past two years after witnessing swooning fans in the U.S.

Teresa Ballesteros, a student of translation and interpretation at the Autonomous University of Madrid, first heard about "Twilight" two years ago from her host sister while living in Canada, when it was already famous worldwide.

For non-obsessives, the plot goes like this, according to Monica Hesse in the Washington Post:

"In 'Twilight,' Edward Cullen waffled between wooing and eating new girl Bella Swan. He chose love.

"In 'New Moon' the darkest installment of the series, Edward becomes convinced that his girlfriend would be safer without him, so he dumps her in order to protect her and then vanishes.

"Bella, catatonic from the pain, finds solace in Jacob Black, the devoted friend who has just learned he is a werewolf, and their relationship grows deeper, and this description is utterly, utterly useless because none of it gets at what the 'Twilight' series is actually about, which is being 17."

This report comes from a journalist in our Student Correspondent Corps, a GlobalPost project training the next generation of foreign correspondents while they study abroad.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/study-abroad/091119/new-moon-madrid