A new report presented on Sunday at the San Sebastián Film Festival has shed light on the vast economic impact of international film and television productions in Spain. The report, titled The Economic Impact of International Productions in Spain, was conducted by Olsberg·SPI in collaboration with the Spain Film Commission and Profilm, Spain’s association of line producers.
Covering the period from 2019 to 2022, the study reveals that international productions benefiting from Spain’s tax rebates spent a minimum of 1.47 billion in the country’s audiovisual sector. This spending generated an estimated 2.4 billion in Gross Value Added contributions to the national economy.
The Gross Value Added figure accounts for both direct and indirect economic benefits, including expenses beyond the audiovisual industry. “GVA takes in indirect uplift, such as a dry cleaner working for a costume department, and induced impact, such as some crew members going to town and spending money in a restaurant or a cafe,” said Marta Moretto, an Olsberg·SPI consultant.
The study found that every euro invested through international production tax incentives generated a return of nine euros in additional Gross Value Added.
“The economic impact of these productions is not limited to direct spending within the strictly audiovisual industry but extends in an extraordinarily widespread manner throughout the entire national economic fabric,” said Olsberg·SPI Managing Director Leon Forde.
The report highlights that audiovisual productions created or sustained an average of 7,080 full-time equivalent jobs annually across Spain between 2019 and 2022. Of these, approximately 1,300 were directly generated by the productions, while 5,780 jobs were supported in the wider economy through wage spending and supply chain effects.
Total accumulated employee remuneration for international productions during this period amounted to 1.1 billion, with 55% of that total coming from indirect and induced economic impacts. A substantial portion of production spending, approximately 74%, went to sectors such as construction, hospitality, and transportation.
“Spain is a vibrant market and one of Europe’s leading in terms of a strong production market, talent, and infrastructure,” said Forde.
The findings were met with enthusiasm. “This isn’t the success of a government or a sector, but the success of the whole of Spain’s society,” said María González Veracruz, Secretary of State of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures.
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