There's a telenovela on one of the Spanish channels in San Francisco:
"Mujeres Apacionadas."  The channel is 18 via Comcast in San
Francisco; I believe it's Telemundo.  Where does this soap opera
(telenovela) take place? (City, Country).

Hello.

It takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A web site called telenovela-world.com has an article in Spanish that
mentions how the hotel and restaurant industry in Rio de Janeiro
benefits from the show.
http://foro.telenovela-world.com/~diane/mulheresapaixonadas/News.HTM  

The Rio location is consistent with the cast biographies listed on the
Telemundo web site.  Many of the cast members are from or live in Rio
de Janeiro.
See: Telemundo: Mujeres Apasionadas 
http://www.telemundo.com/mujeresapasionadas/2764931/detail.html

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search strategy:
telemundo novelas
"Mujeres Apasionadas"
"Mujeres Apasionadas " rio

I hope this helps.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 24 Apr 2004 01:14 PDT

The "elegant" Rio neighborhood depicted on the show is called
"Leblon," according to an article on a web site from Mexico:

"...en Leblon, el barrio m?s elegante del sur de la ciudad..."
http://salud.terra.com.mx/canales/tv/78/78236.html

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Request for Answer Clarification by durango-ga on 24 Apr 2004 09:52 PDT

I also noticed that the actors' voice is dubbed.  So, is this really a
Brazilian soap in Portuguese--not a Spanish soap?

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 24 Apr 2004 10:06 PDT

Hi

"Mujeres Apasionadas" is a Brazilian soap that was done for the local
audience in Portuguese.

However, while this may seem unusual, Brazil's Globo TV network which
makes "Mujeres Apasionadas"  actually produces programs in Spanish for
export to Spanish-speaking market. Here's an article about another
soap opera entitled "At All Costs," which was filmed in Brazil with
actors speaking perfect Spanish. They simply remade a Brazilian hit
show in Spanish and exported it!
http://entertainmentdesignmag.com/ar/marketing_featurebrazil_cues_panlatin/

Great answer: the researcher went the extra distance.

Wow.  That's really weird that a Spanish soap is set in Brazil, where
they speak Portuguese.

Yeah, it's pretty wierd.  I was expecting Mexico City or maybe Argentina.
The location is pretty nice, however.