M. CHANNELS
Updated Wednesday, January 31, 2024-00:07
Cinema The Spanish setting of 'The Snow Society': how they recreated the Andes in Sierra Nevada
Valencia Getaway, the best routes to rediscover the new European Green City
Since, back in 2017,
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
briefly became the setting for some episodes of the latest seasons of
Game of Thrones
, one of the most watched series in the history of
streaming
platforms , the avalanche of tourists to this popular and tiny islet located between the Biscayan towns of
Bakio and Bermeo
(less than an hour from Bilbao) does not stop. The impact continues to be such, especially in the summer months (with more than 250,000 visits), that to access the venue it is now necessary to reserve a (free)
ticket
in advance.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is just a small recent example of the impact that the choice of locations for filming large
film or television productions in Spain has on tourism.
Like the Basque destination, places where nationally and internationally successful series and films have been filmed, such as the Canary Island of El Hierro, the Plaza de España in Seville, the Tabernas desert in Almería or the Bardenas Reales in Navarra, among many. others have become
pilgrimage points
for fans who, every year, want to discover the charms they have seen on the screen. Sites with which, without seeing them, they have an emotional bond.
This type of tourism, called
"screen tourism"
(a broader definition than film tourism, which encompasses all types of audiovisual productions, from films and series, to video clips, video games and advertisements) is not new in our country. country, but it has experienced enormous growth in recent years, thanks to the
increase in filming in the territory
. And currently, Spain has positioned itself as one of the four countries in Europe where the most national and international productions are filmed. "We compete with
England, France and Germany
in attracting filming," confirms Carlos Rosado, president of the Spain Film Commission, an association that since 2001 has led the positioning of the country as a destination for audiovisual filming.
The cliffs of El Hierro, in the Spanish series of the same name.
Castles, medieval towns, windmills, churches, mountains, deserts, beaches and natural parks, among other places, have been seducing
foreign filmmakers
for their filming for decades. Classics from the past have been filmed here such as
Lawrence of Arabia
(1962), in Almería and Seville,
Dr. Zhivago
(1965), in Madrid, or
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989), in Almería and Granada, and more current hits , such as
Mission Impossible , one of the
Star Wars
installments
or the latest
Terminator
, or the series
Black Mirror
(Las Palmas and Málaga),
Money Heist
(Madrid) or
The Crown
, in Andalusia.
In addition to the territorial and landscape diversity, the varied climate in a short space of time and the
spectacular locations
, what attracts large production companies to Spain? "Industry and strategic elements, such as Spanish infrastructure, transportation or the enormous diversity that allows the creation of very differentiated film
sets
in a small space . Also two other key elements for improving competitiveness: first, that we have
a highly qualified professional network that
is in high demand outside of Spain, mainly for technicians, cameras, wardrobe service..., and, second, also very important, the
tax incentives created by the Government
, which make it very advantageous to film here. Everything This has meant that we are constantly growing in attracting important productions," says Rosado. As an example, a fact:
in Andalusia alone, 1,406 filmings were attended to in 2022
, according to the latest data offered by the Andalusia Film Commission.
A recent study by TCI Research shows that 80 million travelers around the world choose their destination based on movies and television series. This figure has multiplied by two in the last five years. Specifically, in 2022,
one in ten European tourists chose their destination influenced by audiovisual fiction
.
Filming of '20,000 species of bees', Movistar Plus series.
other type of tourism
It seems then that there are all advantages in this field, both for the country and for the tourist and the production companies themselves. In the case of Spain, furthermore, this already consolidated tourism represents an alternative to other types in which it is already a world leader: sun and beach, cultural and relaxation and well-being.
One of the obvious advantages of screen tourism over other types is that it allows the flow of visitors to be deseasonalized and delocalized, since
a screen tourist can travel throughout the year to enjoy their dream scenarios
that are dispersed throughout the geography. Spanish. "Another advantage is that this type of tourist is very diverse, but very empathetic, which means that they generate a lot of loyalty due to their participation in social networks. They are usually young people who interact a lot and are very active in the
digital world
, since they participate and comments on his impressions of what he is seeing in real time, so the impact is multiplied...", says Rosado. For their part, there are also advantages for the production companies, "the return at the advertising level is enormous, since it reaches more people than any conventional campaign, especially when the series or films are re-released on the screen."
The town of Tejeda, in Gran Canaria, where some chapters of the series 'Black Mirror' have been filmed
With the aim of further promoting this tourism segment, Spain Film Commission has created Spain Screen Grand Tour, a digital platform that allows tourism and the film industry to connect. The project is the first national
tourist information project
on destinations that have hosted filming of films, series, documentaries, music videos, etc. "Through this website we propose different specific routes to fans to get to know the filming locations," says Rosado. In addition to touring Spain from filming to filming, showing the different scenarios, you can, for example, follow in the footsteps of the judge and trafficker protagonists of the series
El Hierro
on the Canary Island, or land on the same beach where the film traveled. Princess Margaret in the fourth season of
The Crown
, which although the series pretended to be on a Caribbean island, was actually filmed on the Cadiz beach of Los Alemanes.
You can follow
El Mundo Viajes
on
,
and