The audiovisual industry plays a key role in the Spanish economy. Spain ranks sixth in the European Union in terms of the number of titles produced (after Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy) and fifth in terms of production hours (after Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy). According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Spain is one of the top five exporters of pay-per-view films (TVOD or PPV), along with the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy.
Spain easily covers all phases of production. There are over 72,000 professionals and 6,700 companies devoted to the audiovisual industry here. There are 45 film festivals, including San Sebastian (Category A), Seminci, the Malaga Festival, and the Ibero-American Film Festival of Huelva. Over 500 international awards demonstrate Spain’s know-how in the audiovisual industry over the last decade.
Reasons to invest in the audiovisual industry in Spain
Tax incentives
Spain is becoming known as a highly competitive and profitable location for international industry. Investments in foreign film and audiovisual productions allow producers a tax deduction of 30% on the first million euros of the deduction base and 25% on any amount above that, up to a maximum of 10 million euros per production. The Canary Islands offer an incentive of 54% on the first million euros and 45% on the next million. Finally, both Navarre and the Basque Country offer a tax credit of up to 40% and 60% respectively.
Professionals with experience
The Spanish audiovisual industry has a large pool of multicultural technical and artistic professionals with solid training and experience in national and international productions. They can take on more complex productions and integrate themselves into international teams. Production service companies facilitate access to locations, provide equipment and materials, and are essential for obtaining tax incentives and subsidies for productions.
Market opportunities
Spain has a very strong internal market (86.7% of consumption in Spain is local). Source: PWC study “The opportunity of fiction content in Spain”.
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Spaniards spend an average of seven hours and 28 minutes a day consuming audiovisual content, either on television, the Internet, computers or mobile phones, more than in France, Germany and the UK.
Spanish-speaking
The audiovisual content produced in Spain has great potential for internationalisation. Spanish-speaking content can reach Latin America, a market of more than 400 million people.
Infrastructures and services
We are at the forefront. Spanish tourism has provided the country with one of the best service infrastructures in the world.
Technical and artistic production teams have access to a wide range of hotels and other accommodation, as well as a vast network of restaurants and leisure facilities. Car rental, catering, temporary staffing and general and medical insurance companies complete the range of services available in the country. Spain’s public health, security and emergency services are universal and among the best in Europe.
Spain also has a modern and extensive network of infrastructures that facilitate mobility.
Ecosystem
In Spain, all the services needed for audiovisual production can be found throughout the supply chain and in every region.
Source: ICEX – Invest in Spain
