Spain's incentive generated €1.8bn in gross value added between 2019-2022

Inward investment from international film and TV productions in Spain reached €1.3bn between 2019-2022, generating €1.8bn in gross value added and a return on investment to the Spanish economy of €9 for every €1 invested through the incentives programme, according to a report by Olsberg SPI published at the San Sebastian International Film Festival this weekend.

It is the first report to look at the economic impact of Spain’s tax incentives for the film and TV sector on the wider Spanish economy, with a particular focus on job creation and gross value added to the wider Spanish economy. 

Recent international film and TV productions to shoot in Spain include Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City for Universal Pictures, Netflix series The Crown and Kaos, and HBO’s House Of The Dragon series. 

Titled ‘Economic Impact of International Productions in Spain’ the report was commissioned by the Spain Film Commission, with service provider association PROFILM, as part of the Spain Audiovisual Hub initiative. Launched in 2021 by the Spanish government, this €1,600 million investment is financed by the government and the European Union’s NextGenerationEU programme to boost audiovisual production levels by 30% by 2025. 

Spain offers a 30% rebate on eligible costs for the first €1m of eligible expenditure and 25% after with a €20m cap per feature film and €10m per TV series episode. The incentive rises in the Canary Islands to a 50% rebate on eligible costs for the first €1m of eligible expenditure and 45% thereafter.

The commitment of the Spanish government to the film and TV sector was highlighted by the presence of Maria González Veracruz, secretary of state of telecommunications and digital infrastructure, in San Sebastian. Veracruz praised the audiovisual industry as “a true engine of economic growth”.

Also present was Ignasi Camós, general director of Spain’s film body ICAA, who believes the study will show “the potential, strength and impact” of the international shoots industry.

According to the study, the regions with the highest spend by international shoots between 2019 and 2022 were Madrid (€194.8m), Catalonia (€119.8m), the Canary Islands (€106.3m) and Andalusia (€95.3m). Data of the impact of the recent rise of incentives in the Basque Country could not yet be assessed.

Regarding employment, the report estimated international film and television productions attracted by the incentives scheme supported an average of 7,080 jobs each year between 2019 and 2022.

The production data, according to the study, showed a decline in 2020, attributable to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, from €343.3 million in 2019 to €145.9 million in 2020. But production expenditure increased yearly from 2020, with levels surpassing pre-Covid-19 records in 2022.

Total production expenditure in 2022 was more than 50% higher than in 2019, while production volumes were up 33%.

This story originally appeared on our sister site Screen

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