Madrid has maintained its intense filming activity in 2023, closing the year with a balance that demonstrates its privileged position as a major audiovisual production centre in Europe. The city was the setting for the filming of 41 films, 55 series and more than 410 advertisements, according to data from the Madrid Film Office, the audiovisual office of the City Council of the capital attached to the Delegated Area of Tourism.

Thus, the city of Madrid has been the setting for films as varied as Hildegart by Paula Ortiz, Padre no hay más que uno 4 by Santiago Segura, Menudos piezas by Nacho G. Velilla, Al otro barrio by Mar Olid, La navidad en sus manos by Joaquín Mazón, Anatema by Jimina Sabadú or Quién es quien by Martín Cuervo.

Projects such as Buscando a Coque by Teresa Vellón and César L. Calvillo, Alumbramiento by Pau Teixidor and La mitad de Ana by Marta Nieto were also filmed in the city, which have been part of the Film Academy Residencies, a program that has the support of the City Council to provide emerging filmmakers with the means to develop projects related to Madrid.

In addition, of the 41 films shot, 16 have received some of the aid to the audiovisual sector offered by the Consistory through the Office of Strategic Projects and Business Participation of the Coordination of the Mayor's Office, such as Politically Incorrect by Arantxa Echevarría, Buffet Libre by Zoe Berriatúa, Las chicas de la estación by Juana Macías, Tu madre o la mía by Chus Gutiérrez or El correo by Daniel Calparsorotags.

Maxi Iglesias, on a shoot in Madrid.NETFLIX

Among the films shot in 2023, it should be noted that at least 15 were international co-productions, including Diego Corsini's Adiós Madrid (co-production with Argentina), Nacho Vigalondo's Daniela Forever (co-production with Belgium and the US), Pedro Martín-Calero's El llanto (with Argentina), Rodrigo Cortés' Escape, Isaki Lacuesta's Second Prize and Jonás Trueba's Volveréis (all with France), While Cupid Is Not There by Alejandro Aimetta, On the Waves by Horacio Alcalá and V by Víctor by Frank Ariza (all with Mexico), Hamburg by Lino Escalera and The Girl with the Goat by Ana Asensio (both with Romania), or The Silenceof Marcos Tremer by Miguel García de la Calera (with Uruguay and the Dominican Republic).

The data also show that Madrid continues to be a prominent centre for series production. The city has been the setting for new titles such as Berlin (Netflix), the long-awaited spin-off of Money Heist; Red Queen (Prime Video), based on the literary success by Juan Gómez-Jurado; The Purple Network (Atresmedia), an adaptation of the novel by Carmen Mola; Vestidas de azul (Atresmedia), a continuation of the award-winning series Veneno; Perverso (Prime Video and RTVE), a spin-off of the series Parot; Ena (RTVE), the new series by Javier Olivares based on the novel by Pilar Eyre; Demokracia (RTVE), an award-winning project at Conecta Fiction 2020; Eva & Nicole (Atresmedia), the new series by Daniel Écija; or La caja de arena (Atresmedia), a series that aims to make the problem of bullying visible.

Madrid has also hosted the filming of several series made by renowned filmmakers such as Álex de la Iglesia, with 1992 (Netflix); Daniel Calparsoro, with Assault on the Central Bank (Netflix); Clara Roquet, with The Long Shadows (Disney+); Rodrigo Sorogoyen, with The New Years (Movistar Plus+); Paco Plaza, with Maestro (Disney+); or Javier Fesser, who makes his debut with the series with Shared Custody.

The protagonists of the series 'Valeria'. NETFLIX

The latter, produced by the American company The Immigrant with the aim of opening up to Spanish-speaking markets on both sides of the Atlantic, joins other projects with international production, such as the Dutch Maxima (Star+), the third season of the Spanish-Japanese The Head (The Mediapro Studio and Hulu Japan), Los Artistas, produced by Isla Audiovisual for the North American streaming service Vix, or Bellas Artes, created by Argentines Andrés Duprat, Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat for simultaneous premiere on Movistar Plus+ and Star+.

The new seasons of The Immortal (Movistar Plus+), Elite (Netflix), Entrevías (Mediaset), Machos Alfa (Netflix), Sagrada Familia (Netflix), among other titles, have also been filmed in the city.

In total, more than 930 projects carried out medium and large-scale filming on Madrid's public roads, 8% more than in 2022. Many of them have had the support of Madrid Film Office during their pre-production, production and promotion phases, which during 2023 offered assistance to more than 584 (557 in 2022) in terms of location search, guidance and support in the management of filming permits.

  • cinema
  • Series