Why filmmakers keep choosing Catalonia

"In Catalonia, we like to say we're the leading production hub in the Mediterranean. Not just because of the locations, but also because we have the infrastructure, we have studios, we have plans to build new ones, and we have really experienced, multilingual crews." 

Laia Boixader is the technical manager at Catalunya Film Commission. Part of the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies, they work to facilitate and promote film shoots across Catalonia.

"It's very appealing for international production companies to come here because you can find all of this in a small region," Boixader tells Catalan News.

International productions are not new to Catalonia – 75 years on from the filming of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman starring Ava Gardner, Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava still celebrates its Hollywood connections.

But in the 21st century – and especially over the past decade – Catalonia has cemented its place on the global production map.

Since Game of Thrones cast Girona in a starring role, major international productions like Hollywood blockbuster Uncharted, Netflix drama The Crown, HBO series Westworld, and Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon have flocked to Catalonia, drawn by its strikingly diverse locations, state-of-the-art studios, and a highly developed industry support ecosystem.

The Catalunya Film Commission forms a key part of that ecosystem, coordinating a network of over 250 towns and cities around Catalonia: "They discover new locations, these hidden gems that film productions like to discover, to showcase in their films or their productions," Boixader says.

Barcelona alone has an enviable mix of shooting locations – beach, mountains, tree-lined streets and a real variety of architectural styles, as Montserrat Guiu, film office coordinator at Barcelona Film Commission explains to Catalan News. 

The Barcelona Film Commission, which operates under the city council's culture institute, aims to offer a more comprehensive service than film offices in other big cities. 

"We really help companies because we tend to study case by case and help them with each of the permits they need," Guiu says.

"Other film offices are more focused solely on city mobility and nothing else, but we try to help them in all aspects, wherever we can," she adds.

Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya

Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya is a huge, imposing building that looms over Terrassa, Catalonia's third-largest city and a major audiovisual hub, named a UNESCO City of Film in 2017.

Films and series to have shot there include JA Bayona's A Monster Calls; Netflix dramas The Crown, Who is Erin Carter? and Bird Box Barcelona; and The Machinist starring Christian Bale. 

Shakira has shot a music video there, and the site has hosted numerous commercials for brands like Apple, Nissan, and Hyundai — in fact, 33 of the 55 productions filmed there last year were advertisements. It has also been home to several seasons of the reality TV talent show Operación Triunfo.

The site was formerly a hospital dedicated to treating tuberculosis, as Cristina Brandner, the managing director, tells Catalan News.

"In the early 2000s, the mayor of Terrassa decided to take over the building and to devote it to the audiovisual industry," she explains, adding that it is owned 80% by the local council and 20% by the Catalan government. 

Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya boasts four sound stages, the largest with an area of 1260m2. Two more are planned, including one of 2,200 square meters, which would be one of the biggest in Spain.

"A soundstage is a big box without columns and with soundproofing," Brandner explains.

"That's the difference from any regular building. And we have some passerelles where the technicians can walk and hang the lighting and the cameras."

Part of the old hospital's main building has been converted for use as a production base – a flexible space with dressing rooms and offices.

But what makes the site unique are its locations – a church, gardens, cloisters, and disused parts of the old Hospital del Tòrax. The long corridors with endless rooms and terraces can stand in for schools, prisons, and research labs, for example.

And the (fake) blood-stained walls in certain rooms scream perfect horror set.

"The kind of locations are completely open to the producer, what they need. Normally, there are some sets that the producers leave us, and it's very important for us that they leave us these kinds of standard sets, because then we can reuse them for other shoots," Brandner says.

Tax breaks

Spain started offering tax incentives for international productions in 2015, and they have been modified a couple of times since, most recently in 2021, to make them more attractive and competitive in the international market.

Productions are offered a tax deduction of 30% on the first million euros invested in eligible expenses, and 25% on any additional expenses.

The maximum incentive is €20 million per production in the case of feature films, and €10 million per episode for television series.

A 2024 study by Olsberg SPI for Spain for ProFilm and Spain Film Commission analysed 165 international productions that shot in Spain between 2019 and 2022.

The study concluded that international film and TV productions spent over €1.32 billion in Spain, and, thanks to this spending, the Spanish economy saw an overall boost of nearly €1.8 billion in added value.

The bottom line, the study found, was that for every €1 Spain spent on film tax breaks, the economy got €9 back.

More than 70% of the spend on incentivised productions in the sample was concentrated in four areas: Madrid (with €194.8 million spent by 31 productions), Catalonia (€119.8 million, 19 productions), the Canary Islands (€106.3 million, 12 productions), and Andalusia (€95.3 million, 31 productions).

Profilm's 2024 annual report found that, although foreign film investment in Spain actually dropped by a third in 2024, Catalonia bucked the trend, tripling its numbers.

Catalunya Media City

Catalonia is investing in the future of its wider audiovisual industry, which accounts for 3% of GDP, and boasts over 4,100 companies employing nearly 42,000 people.

The two new sound stages at Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya form part of the Catalunya Media City project.

In Terrassa, €13 million is being invested to build two large new sound stages.

The main development will be at the site of an old power plant – the Tres Xemeneies (Three Chimneys) complex, between Sant Adrià de Besòs and Badalona

Work on expanding and renovating the Turbine Hall is set to begin in summer 2026.

The architectural planning contract has been awarded, and the goal is to finish the project by the end of 2028, with a total investment of €70.8 million.

The new facilities will include training spaces and a cultural center focused on the latest trends in audiovisual and digital media.

It's also aiming to become a hub for research and innovation.

Catalan president Salvador Illa said that the Catalunya Media City project is about "thinking big" for the future of the audiovisual sector and for "putting Catalonia on the world stage."