A national tax rebate of 30% — higher still in some regions such as the Canary Islands, Basque Country and Navarre — has helped Spain attract and consolidate the flow of international productions, adding to the wider appeal of its natural and architectural assets. The focus is now on expanding that growth.
The national tax incentive was increased in 2020 and is currently at 30% for the first $1.2m (€1m) of local spend by an international shoot and 25% thereafter. And the tax rebate runs even higher in those regions with a tax regime that differs from the rest of the nation.
The incentives have been instrumental in the rise of high-end international productions drawn to Spain, also fuelling the local industry. “Both in the number of local and international productions and in scale, 2025 has seen an improvement compared to 2024,” says Juan-Manuel Guimerans, president of Spain Film Commission.
And there is room for growth. All the players in the sector would like to see further fiscal improvements, with a rise in the 30% tax rebate in regions that do not have a special tax regime and a rise in the cap for the total tax rebate per feature — currently at $23.4m (€20m).
Talks with the Spanish government are ongoing. “Our proposal does not only concern a rise in the overall tax rebate in the country, which would put us in the same league as the most competitive countries in the EU,” says Guimerans. “It’s also about improving aspects of the paperwork, the timeframe for reimbursement and the legal framework.”
A 2024 study of the film industry’s economic impact in Spain, in terms of the gross value added to the economy and job market, calculated that inward investment from international film and TV production totalled $1.5bn (€1.3bn) over 2019‑22. A follow-up study should be ready by autumn.
International productions that recently shot in Spain include Martin Campbell’s Just Play Dead, starring Samuel L Jackson and Eva Green, on Gran Canaria; Day Drinker with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz; the third and fourth seasons of AMC’s horror spinoff The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon; and the second season of The Night Manager. The 2026 Berlinale Competition title Rosebush Pruning was shot entirely in Catalonia.
The third season of German Netflix series The Empress used locations in Malaga and Catalonia, including the coastal town of Lloret de Mar. Series producers Jochen Laube, Fabian Maubach and Lars Gmehling chose Catalonia for deliberate reasons: “We needed a region that offered a significant change of scenery, supporting the characters’ journey and expanding the series through the Empress’s foreign travels. Spain provided the ideal conditions.”
Diego Luna’s Spain-Mexico co-production Ashes shot in Barcelona and Madrid. Andalusia was busy with several Prime Video productions, including Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock series, which used a number of locations, among them Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Seville, and Our Fault: London, the third title in the Fault feature trilogy, directed by UK filmmaker Chanya Button. The second season of Left Bank Pictures’ BBC series This City Is Ours, produced with Palma Pictures, and Netflix miniseries Seven Dials also used several locations in Andalusia.
Prime Video thriller Kill Jackie, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, shot in the Basque Country and Navarre. The latter was also used by sci-fi thriller A.M.I. starring Mads Mikkelsen. Woody Allen’s upcoming untitled feature is scheduled to shoot in Madrid this year.
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