Spain’s film and TV industry is booming, and a new study from U.K. consultancy Olsberg SPI confirms it. The study, commissioned by the Spain Film Commission, predicts production spend will hit €5.68 billion ($6.6 billion) in 2025, up 45% from 2022.
The numbers were presented at the San Sebastian Festival, where Kayleigh Hughes of Olsberg SPI said the study builds on the consultancy’s 2024 analysis of incentivized international production. This time, the scope is wider, covering film, video and television spending from 2023 through 2025.
The Numbers Behind the Boom
The study relies on data from the Spanish Statistical Institute to follow spending on goods, services and personnel. Exhibition, distribution, broadcasting and video games are left out of the analysis, although post-production is set to show up in the complete report.
The sector is forecast to add €4.98 billion to Spain’s gross value added (GVA) in 2025. The total comprises €2.72 billion in direct output, alongside further gains from suppliers and service providers, and still more from worker spending.
Why the Growth Matters
The numbers demonstrate the expanding economic reach of the audiovisual sector, Hughes argued, moving well beyond the companies that actually make productions. The report also highlights wider advantages, including screen tourism, cultural visibility, technical innovation and sustainability.
Recent European Audiovisual Observatory data show Spain has seen solid gains in film and co-production volumes over the past few years. This has helped strengthen the country’s standing as both a home base for domestic filmmaking and a popular location for international productions.
The Panel’s Take
The session brought together a group of Spanish film industry figures to discuss the present situation, including Spain Film Commissioner Juan Manuel Guimeráns, Madrid Film Region Coordinator Xiomara Garcia, Olsberg SPI’s Marta Moretto and Jesús Cambra of Pablo De Olavide University.
Spain’s production ecosystem is growing in scale, according to Moretto, who pointed to the figures as evidence of both public and private investment on a significant level.
The Tractor Effect
Pablo de Olavide University’s Jesús Cambra pointed out that nearly half of the approximately €5 billion in value produced around the audiovisual industry comes from sources outside the sector. This shows its broader “tractor effect.”
For every job directly tied to audiovisual production, roughly 10 more are created inside the industry, while an additional 11 arise outside it. That second group covers a wide range of roles, including electricians, carpenters, hair and makeup professionals, transport workers and hospitality staff.
“We’re not talking only about production,” Cambra said. “There are many more activities that benefit from the positive momentum of the audiovisual industry.” He argued that workforce training should reflect those needs, with skills shortages in areas such as electrical work and carpentry potentially affecting production while also creating opportunities across the wider economy.
Wages and Working Conditions
Guimeráns argued that the sector’s influence goes beyond its own workers, reaching into wages and working conditions across the economy. He urged policymakers to take those wider consequences into account when shaping measures affecting production. “Touching this sector is either doing good or doing harm to other sectors,”
Madrid’s Share of the Workforce
According to Garcia of the Madrid Film Regional Office, the regional audiovisual industry produces roughly 30,000 jobs in Madrid alone, making the territory’s effect especially clear.
Local infrastructure, suppliers and services are becoming ever more central to productions, which makes municipalities an integral part of the production ecosystem, she argued. She pointed to a shoot at a protected 18th-century theater that needed specialist carpenters and technicians, and which also benefited local restaurants.
Another instance saw “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” build a 8,000-square-meter production center and bring in a specialist vintage-car restoration firm to get the vehicles ready for filming.
The Competition Ahead
Spain ranks among the top European audiovisual markets by volume, Guimeráns stated, though it still contends with rivals abroad and from within its own regions. “The producer moves very easily,” was his assessment of the situation. “The territories and sectors that have better conditions attract more activity.”
He pointed to the possible effect of fresh U.S. production incentives and cautioned that mere policy announcements can shape production choices. When it came to Spain, his argument was that reform should strengthen incentives while keeping the existing working arrangements intact.
“We have to improve Spanish incentives — not only in percentage, but also in procedures, legal certainty and timing,” Guimeráns said. “Let’s do it, but let’s do it with a clear head.”
Spain’s growing production base is producing films, series and television formats that are increasingly traveling internationally. “What we have to do is push that forward,” he said.
The Slowdown Signal
Variety reported that Guimeráns later said the study’s 2025 estimates indicate investment leveling off after substantial growth between 2022 and 2024. He also noted that the deceleration is a result of growing international competition.
“The jump from 2022 to 2023 coincided with Spain’s improved tax incentives,” he said. “Since then, other countries have been changing their incentives too — Italy, Portugal, France and the U.K. We’re all fishing in the same pond. It’s a big pond with room to grow, but we’re all fishing in it.”
But incentives are only one factor in production decisions. “Production doesn’t move from one territory to another for a single reason,” he said. “Incentives are important, of course, but so are labor and production costs and how easy it is to shoot in a particular territory.”
Historical evidence shows that incentives typically grow the total production market, even when activity moves between regions. “If the U.S. introduces a federal tax credit, I expect production there to grow,”
What Comes Next
Spain’s audiovisual sector has grown dramatically over the past three years, and the study’s estimates show investment stabilizing as international competition intensifies.
There is a genuine pull effect from film production, and it is precisely why everyone beyond the industry itself ought to pay attention to what transpires on set. The current data continues to show progress. Spain’s ability to sustain that momentum depends on how swiftly it answers the fresh competition.
Schedule of Key Figures
| Date/Year | Event |
|---|---|
| Present day | Study numbers presented at San Sebastian Festival |
| 2025 (projected) | Production spend expected to hit €5.68 billion |
| 2022–2025 | Study covers film, video and TV spending |
| 2022–2024 | Period of substantial growth before leveling off |
| 2023 | Year with notable jump in incentives-driven production |
| 2024 | Previous Olsberg SPI analysis of incentivized international production |
Source material: “Production Surge in Spain Confirmed by Olsberg SPI Study, but Headwinds Approach,” Variety.
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