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In the week before Cannes, Spain’s production sector was still digesting the news of U.S. President
Donald Trump’s call for tariffs of 100% on movies made outside the U.S. “Tariffs will not resolve any of the necessities which the U.S. administration indicates as a justification,” the Spain Film Commission fired back in a statement May 5.
Following a 2020 global pandemic and 2023 Hollywood strikes, the tariff threat reps the third global curveball thrown at Spain’s production shoot business, which has grown dramatically over the last decade, but edged down in 2024. “International service work has slowed somewhat,” says Mike Day at Palma Pictures, the producer in Spain of “The Crown.”
“Spain’s [incentives and locations] remain competitive. The dip is more to do with the recent headwinds that the industry itself has been seeing,” Day adds. Recent years have seen an extraordinary surge of international productions hit Spain. If availability of equipment and studios is still limited, it’s “due to the large volume of production in the country,” says Adrián Guerra at Nostromo Pictures, which is currently filming his Lionsgate co-production “Day Drinker,” with Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz, in Catalonia.
Ending in December 2024, the Spain Audiovisual Hub investment of €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) helped drive a 30% increase in shoot volume. “The Hub allowed us to appreciate how audiovisual activity spreads throughout the country and into the economy,” says Spain Film Commission president Juan Manuel Guimeráns.
“SFC invested €5 million ($5.6 million) from the Hub in three fields: digitalization, international promotion and economic impact studies.”
Despite the current slight dip, Spain has hosted productions such as AMC+ hit “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,” shot in eight different Spanish regions. Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad”) filmed the Apple TV sci-fi series “Wycaro” in the Basque Country, the Canary Islands and Asturias.
Further major shoots include Marvel and Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance,” which resumed filming after the strike in Murcia, Aragón and Alicante’s Ciudad de la Luz.
Served by Palma Pictures, a partial shoot on “Blade Runner 2099,” from Alcon and Amazon Studios, took place in Barcelona in 2024. Palma Pictures, one of Spain’s most active services companies, also recently worked on “Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue,” from Eleventh Hour and MGM+, “This City Is Ours,” a Left Bank and BBC production, and “Industry” Season 3, from Bad Wolf and HBO.
The big question now is if Trump’s tariffs will come into force, or even if the uncertainty caused by their threat will slow the greenlight of new international productions. For the Spain Film Commission, the way forward is not tariffs but “to make more visible the benefits of collaboration and freedom of creation and distribution of audiovisual content.”
Two regions in Spain are certainly benefitting from that. Spain offers general tax breaks for foreign productions of 25%-30%; however, special tax regimes in regions such as the Basque Country and the Canary Islands allow more significant incentives. Launching tax credits of up to 70% in January 2023, the production scene in Bilbao and the surrounding province of Bizkaia immediately gained momentum.
Over 2024, 28 films (up 133% over 2023) and a high of 11 TV series shot in the territory, according to the Bilbao Bizkaia Film Commission. “Our goal is to generate a strong and stable local industry, supporting local talent,” says BBFC’s José Agustín Atxa.
Since the credits’ beneficiaries need a registered address in Bizkaia, key production houses from the rest of Spain started to explore business opportunities there. A regular partner on Hollywood shoots, Calle Cruzada’s José Luis Escolar kicked off operations in Bizkaia with Denis Rabaglia’s European co-production series “In Salt Water,” and has initiated a 20-week shoot of Catherine Zeta-Jones’ “Kill Jackie” for Fremantle, Prime Video and Steel Springs Pictures.
“This isn’t for a one-off project, you need to attract production,” says Escolar, whose credits include
“Kingdom of Heaven,” “The Night Manager” and “Cloud Atlas.” “Bizkaia’s incentive is very attractive
because of the percentage, the eligible expenses and very clear rules,” he adds.
A top destination for international projects, the Canary Islands boast a tax rebate of up to 54% of spend, hosting last year 128 real image TV series, feature films and documentaries, compared to 2023’s 108.
A clarification in tax regulations allowed private investors from the Peninsula access to the advantages of islands. “Suddenly, a huge door opened to non-Canary Islands investors. This has translated into an increase in national shoots,” explains Natacha Mora, Canary Islands Film co-ordinator.
One or two major international productions usually arrive each year, mainly TV series, such as Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2, filmed in Tenerife, Teide National Park and San Juan de la Rambla. The Canary Islands has continued strengthening its infrastructure with the Gran Canaria Platós, offering a virtual studio, which was used for eight weeks on Renny Harlin’s Samuel L. Jackson-starrer “The Beast,” a Unified Pictures production.
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