Madrid Touts 71 Films and 52 Series in Bid to Be Europe's Shoot Hub
Madrid filmed at least 71 feature films and 52 series in 2025. City Hall wants more of that business.
The sales pitch landed at the San Sebastian Festival. Raúl Torquemada, head of the Madrid Film Office, led the city's presentation under the banner 'Something is Cooking in Madrid'. He said Madrid is stepping up efforts to position itself as a leading European audiovisual production hub, as reported by Variety.
Torquemada put it in one line. "Madrid is a city for telling great stories." Samuel Castro, co-director of Iberseries, spoke after him at the same session.
The numbers behind the pitch are large. Madrid City Council processed 11,001 filming applications in 2025. Madrid Film Office figures count more than 1,025 medium- and large-scale projects filmed in the city last year with permits for occupation of public space, meaning permission to shoot in streets, squares and parks.
That total includes the 71 features and 52 series, plus more than 410 advertising productions. The office says it provided 4,115 specific support services to productions in 2025, almost 7% more than in 2024. Support services here means practical help on the ground, from location scouting to handling permits.
The jobs argument is central. A study developed with support from the Autonomous University of Madrid found films and series shot in Madrid between 2021 and 2024 generated about 10,100 jobs and more than €1.5 billion in economic output. Since 2021, the city's audiovisual support programmes have allocated more than €15 million to the sector, with €10 million for production and €5 million for promotion and distribution.
Torquemada also sold the look of the city. He named the historic centre and Gran Vía alongside Lavapiés, Malasaña, Carabanchel, Vallecas and Tetuán as filming locations. The Madrid Film Office, the audiovisual office of the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, lists promoting the city as a filming location and assisting companies that choose it among its core missions.
What makes this stand out is the range on one call sheet. Old streets, grand avenues and outer neighbourhoods all get named together. For crews, that mix decides where trucks park and where the next job lands.
Next stop is Iberseries & Platino Industria 2026. The event runs from 29 September to 2 October 2026, with Matadero Madrid as main venue, according to Matadero Madrid. Organisers bill it as the largest Ibero-American audiovisual event, a market and meeting place where producers buy, sell and co-finance shows. A training activity within the programme will run in person on 29 and 30 September and 1 October at Matadero Madrid.
