The capital was the setting for 41 films, 53 series and more than 430 advertisements in 2024, according to data provided by Madrid Film Office
Madrid Film Office responded to 3,853 specific requests for assistance in 2024, up almost 18% than the previous year
The Councillor for Tourism, Almudena Maíllo, emphasised that the aim is to turn the capital into a global benchmark for the audiovisual industry
Over the year, Madrid City Council processed 11,419 applications to film on the streets of the city through its Filming Authorisations Bureau
In an effort to foster Madrid’s audiovisual sector and promote the city as a filming location, Madrid Film Office participated in 15 festivals and audiovisual marketplaces and sponsored nine events in the capital in 2024
The audiovisual sector’s commitment to the city of Madrid has remained strong in 2024, according to data released by Madrid Film Office, the audiovisual agency of Madrid City Council’s Tourism Department. The municipal body estimates that the city served as the backdrop for 41 films, 53 series (48 fiction and 5 docuseries) and more than 430 medium- and high-impact advertisements in 2024.
Compared to the 11,133 applications handled in 2023, Madrid City Council’s Filming Authorisations Bureau—part of the Environment and Mobility Department—processed 11,419 filming requests on the streets of the city in 2024. In total, over 1,020 projects were shot with permits allowing street occupation, an increase of between 5% and 10% compared to 2023. This figure excludes lower-impact productions filmed with permits that do not require reserving or fully occupying public spaces, which account for approximately 65% of all applications received.
During the pre-production, production and promotion stages, many of these projects received support from Madrid Film Office. In fact, in 2024, the Office assisted more than 555 different projects—roughly the same as the previous year—, highlighting the significant number of productions filmed in the city each year. Specifically, among its myriad other activities, Madrid Film Office responded to 3,853 requests for assistance throughout the year, conveying to location scouting, guidance and support managing filming permits, and coordinating and mediating between different public and private bodies and companies. This increase of almost 18% compared to 2023 reflects how the municipal agency has greatly expanded the scope of the support it provides. In 2024, Madrid Film Office provided support to 62 international projects and 493 Spanish productions, including 52 series, 64 films, 87 advertisements, 72 documentaries, 64 television programmes and 38 music videos. Many of these were shot in the city during the year, while others are scheduled for 2025.
This high level of filming activity would not be possible without a solid industry base. According to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE, 2023), Madrid accounts for around 29% of all the companies operating in the audiovisual industry in Spain (2,881 in total). This represents 73.4% of the national turnover (8.591 billion euro) and 44.6% of the country’s workforce—almost 25,500 people (data from 2022).
How Madrid Film Office supports the audiovisual sector
In 2024, Madrid Film Office participated in 15 film festivals, marketplaces and industry events to enhance the city’s visibility as a filming location, stimulate the development of projects and support the local industry. These include important international gatherings such as European Film Market (Berlin International Film Festival), Marché du Film (Cannes Festival), Ventana Sur (Montevideo), the Platino Awards (Riviera Maya), sponsored by Madrid Film Office, and the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where the region of Madrid was the special guest.
It also participated in events across Spain, including MAFIZ (Malaga Festival), Shooting Locations Marketplace (Valladolid) and Industry Club (San Sebastian International Film Festival), where the city council, together with the Community of Madrid, organised the third edition of “Algo se cuece en Madrid” (“Something’s Brewing in Madrid”), along with various marketplaces in the capital.
This way, Madrid Film Office strengthened its support for festivals, award ceremonies and industry events, as well as the creation of meeting spaces and forums in the city. The goal was to foster synergies between creators, producers, companies and other players in the sector, actively promoting the exchange of knowledge, projects and innovation. Some of the key activities in this regard are the agency’s sponsorship of the fourth edition of the Iberseries & Platino Industria audiovisual marketplace; the 25th edition of the Television Academy’s Iris Awards; AEC 2024 Micro-Fair, the most significant annual event in the cinematographic sector focused on photography direction; the third edition of MIANIMA, a training programme designed to promote and elevate animation projects by female Latin American directors; and the first edition of ECAM Forum, a new international co-production event in Madrid. Many of the programmes supported by Madrid Film Office strive to foster ties with the audiovisual industries of Ibero-American countries, making Madrid the bridge par excellence between these industries and Europe. To this end, during the Iberseries & Platino Industria event, Madrid Film Office arranged for producers from Madrid and Mexico to meet and take part in a joint fam trip.
ACE 2024 Micro-Fair
During the year, the Office co-organised the “III Jornadas sobre Inteligencia Artificial en el Audiovisual” (“3rd Conference on Artificial Intelligence in the Audiovisual Sector”), in collaboration with the Television Academy. It also hosted new editions of the “Cortamos para…” after work networking sessions, as well as the Documenta PRO and Animario PRO industry forums, held during the prestigious festivals of the same name. The latter events were organised by the Cineteca Matadero film archive, part of Madrid City Council’s Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport. Madrid Film Office also sponsored the Notodofilmfest online short film festival, which for the fourth consecutive year awarded a special prize to projects filmed in Madrid; Next Lab Generation, a conference and networking event that showcases the latest developments in innovation and new technologies in the world of animation and video games; and Madrid Hub List, a matchmaking initiative for projects under development.
Madrid Film Office contributed to training and development programmes and events for audiovisual projects promoted by Madrid City Council through the Office for Strategic Projects and Corporate Involvement. These included the renowned Film Academy Residencies, the Ventana Madrid co-production forum, the FeatureLab workshop run by the prestigious international audiovisual laboratory TorinoFilmLab, and the 2024 Cartoon Springboard pitching event. However, these were not the only programmes backed by the Office. It also sponsored other events, such as the 2024 PRODU Awards, 2024 Adapta Book Madrid, 2024 Conecta DIGITAL Madrid, and the sixth edition of the dedicated workshop “ACE Producers Series Special”, which took place in Madrid.
Data, sustainability and screen tourism
Last year, Madrid Film Office carried out several cross-cutting yet strategic initiatives, including fostering sustainability in the audiovisual sector, improving data collection and promoting screen tourism in the city of Madrid. Among the former, of particular note is the Office’s sponsorship of a carbon footprint calculation tool and protocol tailored to the animation and VFX sector, developed by Pixel Cluster Madrid. It also participated in Green Film Forum (Mallorca), the first forum dedicated to sustainable filmmaking, and supported the second edition of the “Taller de formación en oficios del cine para nuevos profesionales” (“Training Workshop in Film Trades for New Professionals”), organised by the Film Academy and Madrid City Council. This workshop featured three theoretical and practical courses, including “Green shooting–Taller práctico de ecomanager” (“Green Shooting—a Practical Workshop for Eco-managers”).
The collection of data on Madrid’s activity and potential across various areas of the audiovisual sector is a key priority for the agency, which has launched several projects to improve the available information. In this regard, two reports sponsored by the municipal office were published in 2024: the sixth edition of the “Estudio sobre el impacto económico de la producción de cine publicitario” (“Report on the Economic Impact of Advertising Film Production”) by the Association of Advertising Film Producers (APCP), which includes a specific analysis of Madrid, and “El turismo de pantalla en Madrid: aproximación a las claves de un subsegmento de futuro” (“Screen Tourism in Madrid: An Appraisal of the Keys to a Sub-segment of the Future”), published by the National Observatory of Outbound Tourism (ObservaTUR), as part of a project led by the Autonomous University and the Carlos III University.
This report provides relevant information to facilitate the continued promotion of screen tourism and the dissemination of the city’s audiovisual heritage among residents and visitors alike. Over the past year, Madrid Film Office has dedicated significant efforts to this area, undertaking initiatives such as the publication of the brochure “El Madrid de Concha Velasco” (“Concha Velasco’s Madrid”) and the launch of the first edition of the summer walks programme, “Madrid desde la pantalla” (“Madrid from the Screen”). These initiatives complement the guided tours of the city that the Office has been organising in collaboration with the municipal programme Madrid Otra Mirada and the Open House Madrid Festival. In 2024, Madrid Film Office also sponsored the publication of the book “Madrid desde el cine” (“Madrid in the Movies”) and the map “Madrid, chica Almodóvar”, (“Madrid: The Ultimate Almodóvar Muse”), created to accompany the exhibition of the same name at Condeduque Centre for Contemporary Culture with the support of the municipal office. Additionally, it also collaborated on the exhibitions “Yvonne Blake. Dressing Spain and Hollywood” and “Madrid, City of Dreams: The Urban Cinema of Bigas Luna #YoSoyLaJuani”.Furthermore, the Office worked with the radio programme “Hoy por Hoy Madrid” on Cadena Ser and the monthly publication “esMADRIDmagazine” in an effort to promote filming locations across the city that have appeared in series and films. It also maintained its annual participation in FITUR Screen, a dedicated section of the FITUR tourism fair focused on screen tourism.
These initiatives highlight the strong commitment of Madrid City Council’s Tourism Department, through Madrid Film Office, to the city’s audiovisual sector—both in preserving its heritage and promoting its potential as a hub for developing and producing new projects. Madrid Film Office’s work can be followed on its website (madridfilmoffice.com) and social media, where it had 25,800 followers on LinkedIn and 12,400 on Instagram in 2024, cementing its role as a key player in Madrid’s audiovisual sector.
Madrid, a set for films and series
The 2024 data confirms that Madrid continues to be a prime filming location, with 41 films recorded—matching figures from 2023. The eclectic list of films includes Mikaela by Daniel Calparsoro, Pídeme lo que quieras by Lucía Alemany, Hotel Bitcoin by Manuel Sanabria and Carlos ‘Pocho’ Villaverde, La deuda by Daniel Guzmán, Todos los lados de la cama by Samantha López Speranza, Padre no hay más que uno 5 by Santiago Segura, La sospecha de Sofía by Imanol Uribe, Las delicias del jardín by Fernando Colomo, Un lío de millones by Susan Béjar, Todo lo que no sé by Ana Lambarri, Apuntes para una ficción consentida by Ana Serret Ituarte, Un funeral de locos by Manolo Gómez Pereira, Mr. Nadie by Miguel Ángel Calvo Buttini and The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar, among others. Several of these productions have received support from Madrid City Council, including three developed through the Film Academy’s Residency Programme.
This year, Madrid’s streets served as the backdrop for the filming of Renny Harlin’s American thriller The Beast, starring Samuel L. Jackson. Notably, of the 41 films shot in the city, at least eight were international co-productions, including titles such as A la cara by Javier Marco (a co-production with Belgium), Ciudad sin sueño by Guillermo García López (France), Ídolos by Mat Whitecross (Italy), La huella del mal by Manuel Ríos San Martín (Germany), Sigue mi voz by Inés Pintor Sierra and Pablo Santidrián (United States) and Hasta el fin del mundo by Emiliano Castro Vizcarra, Tierra de nadie by Albert Pintó and Voy a pasármelo mejor by Ana de Alva (all three in co-production with Mexico).
Madrid continues to be a major hub for series productions, with 48 fiction series and 5 docuseries identified by Madrid Film Office. Among the internationally produced fiction series, last year Madrid was the setting for the third season of the American series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC), transforming the capital into an apocalyptic London; the British show Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue (BBC and MGM+); and the Mexican series Isla Brava (ViX). At the beginning of the year, filming wrapped on the first season of Custodia repartida (Disney+), Javier Fesser’s debut series produced in collaboration with the American group The Immigrant, as well as the third season of the Spanish-Japanese show The Head (The Mediapro Studio and Hulu Japan). Dime tu nombre (Prime Video) was also shot in Madrid in co-production with the US company Skybound Entertainment, as was La encrucijada (Atresmedia), with the participation of the Turkish production company Ay Yapım.
The city was also the setting for highly anticipated new series, such as Celeste (Movistar Plus+), Superstar (Netflix), Los años nuevos(Movistar Plus+), Santuario (Atresmedia), La increíble historia de Julia Pastrana (Disney+), Cuando nadie nos ve (Max) and Salvador (Netflix), as well as new seasons of already successful shows like Reina roja: loba negra (Prime Video), La chica de la nieve: el juego del alma (Netflix), Machos alfa (Netflix), Muertos S.L. (Movistar Plus+), Respira (Netflix), Memento Mori (Prime Video) La que se avecina (Mediaset and Prime Video) and Valeria (Netflix). Spanish platforms and channels produced several series, including the first seasons of A qué estás esperando, Física o química, la nueva generación, Mariliendre, Perdiendo el juicio and Sueños de libertad for Atresmedia, El marqués, La agencia and La favorita 1922 for Mediaset, La frontera and Salón de té La Moderna for RTVE, and La vida breve, El centro and La canción for Movistar Plus+. International platforms continue to choose Madrid as a filming location for new series such as Atasco, Cochinas and Su majestad for Prime Video, El refugio atómico, El cuco de cristal, El jardinero, Legado and Manual para señoritas for Netflix, Entrepeneurs and Mentes sospechosas for Disney+, and Furia (Max) and Matices (SkyShowtime).
Finally, in 2024, the city hosted more than 430 medium- and high-impact advertisements, featuring leading brands from the automotive, technology, fashion and food sectors. According to the 6th “Estudio sobre el impacto económico de la producción de cine publicitario” (“Report on the Economic Impact of Advertising Film Production”) by the Association of Advertising Film Producers (APCP), carried out by SCOPEN and sponsored by Madrid Film Office, in 2024 , Madrid accounted for 42% of all filming days for advertisements in Spain. The investment generated by advertisement production in Spain last year amounted to 498 million euro, with almost 212 million remaining in Madrid. Furthermore, advertising film production companies generated a turnover of no less than 693 million euro, of which Madrid accounted for 36%, or 250 million euro.
