Spain offers tax breaks to build ‘Hollywood of Europe’

FROM the gripping crime drama Money Heist to the HBO hit Game of Thrones, Spain has been the backdrop for some of the most popular TV and films in recent years.

Now, Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister, wants to build on that success by offering tax breaks to investors to make the country the “Hollywood of Europe”.

At a meeting with media moguls in Los Angeles, Mr Sanchez outlined a €1.6 billion (£1.37 billion) plan to encourage production houses to establish a Spanish base.

He also said a fast-track visa system would be introduced to speed up the entry of film professionals from countries like the US.

“Spain has all the necessary administrative and fiscal incentives, in addition to all possible landscapes, to receive new projects and create new narratives. We aspire to become, if you will allow us to compare, the Hollywood of Europe,” he said during a US tour.

Mr Sánchez said he hoped to take advantage of Brexit to overtake the UK in the screen industry. He cited the decision by the US media conglomerate Viacomcbs to move its production centre from London to Madrid.

“Several cross-border TV providers based in the UK before Brexit have now moved their operations to Spain, including NBC Universal, Sony and Disney, to name just a few,” he said.

Spain is now ranked second in the EU, behind Germany, in terms of the most hours of film drama produced, said Mr Sánchez,

The series House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones, which was filmed in the Basque Country, is due to be shot later this year in Spain.

One film industry expert is sceptical Brexit prompted TV companies to quit the UK for Spain and said it was more likely the allure of “cheaper talent”.

“Britain is still the most important producer of cinema and TV outside the US. But it is true that the Spanish audio-visual industry is booming,” he said.

Spain’s cinematic legacy stretches back to the Sixties, when Clint Eastwood starred in and which were filmed in Almeria.