NETFLIX SPY THRILLER SERIES IN FROM THE COLD USED MADRID AS A DOUBLE FOR MOSCOW

RAFAEL CABRERA

Víctor Aertsen of the Madrid Film Ofce says: “The city and surrounding region can double for a wide variety of cities or regional locations. In addition to specifc interior locations, such as the Railway Museum or the Fernan Nunez Palace, both of which have been used countless times to recreate train stations or palaces in cities across all fve continents, Madrid has diverse urban areas such as AZCA [the business district] and Cuatro Torres, with skyscrapers that could be any big city in the world. Then there are emblematic neighbourhoods like Salamanca, regularly used to recreate cities like London or Paris, plus we have several old, single-storey house neighbourhoods that resemble the sorts of neighbourhoods you fnd in Latin America. Across this city and the region, the possibilities are endless.”

During 2022, the City Council and the Region of Madrid dedicated €5,400,000 to economic support for the audiovisual sector. Last year, the Region of Madrid reinforced its support with various lines of subsidies, allocating a total of €2,400,000, 9% more than the previous year. The City Council came on board in 2021 with a new line of audiovisual subsidies for the production and promotion of flms, TV series and documentaries linked to Madrid, for which a budget of €3,000,000 was allocated in 2022.

For Carlos Rosado, president of the Spain Film Commission, Spain has always been a highly attractive country for flming, from Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago back in the

1960s, through to Star Wars and Game of Thrones. “As Spanish production service companies say, you can replicate up to 60-70% of the world’s locations in Spain, and traveling by road, it’s easy to access a huge variety of landscapes, architecture and cultures.”

Traditionally, Spain has been a favourite of flmmakers because of its multiplicity of excellent locations, hospitality, talent, highly professional crews and production services, plus its safety. “But then in 2020, while COVID was hitting hard our government took two important decisions for our future as a flming destination: to launch the Spain Audiovisual Hub and to increase tax rebates for flming,” Rosado says. “Our aim being to make Spain a leading destination for flm and TV production. On top of that, the local Spanish flm industry is currently experiencing an extraordinary moment of global success, which represents the perfect opportunity for us to position ourselves as a globally respected leader in both quality and professionalism. Artistic and technical teams of the highest level are proving that cinema can be written in capital letters in Spain through flms and series that showcase our talent, identity, culture and language, including in ofcial regional languages such as Catalan, Basque and Galician."

Rosado points to the wave of emerging domestic cinematic talent that is beneftting from the country’s world-class production infrastructure: “We are living in an important moment for new young directors, especially women — for example Carla Simón (Alcarràs), Estibaliz Urresola (20.000 Especies de Abejas), Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Cinco Lobitos), Carlota Pereda (Cerdita) and Pilar Palomero (La Maternal). The fact that all have won prestigious awards, alongside other new names such as Rodrigo Sorogoyen (As Bestas) and Fernando Franco (La Consagración de la Primavera), tells me that our future as a global cinematic and audiovisual mainstay could not be more promising. Our entire network of flm commissions and flm ofces is focused on supporting and collaborating with productions that carry the Spanish label. They best represent our potential as a preferred flming destination and are key to attracting international audiovisual projects.”

Veronica Sullivan, senior vice-president and head of global production, external afairs and state and local government at NBCUniversal, is one of several global ambassadors for the Spanish audiovisual industry. “We are honoured to include Veronica among our Honorary Ambassadors together with former HBO executive and US ambassador to Spain, James Costos; legendary DoP Javier Aguirresarobe; Indian location manager Ramji Natarajan; actors Emily Blunt and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón; director Terry Gilliam; and Sony Television executive Brendan Fitzgerald,” Rosado says. “In 2018 the Spain Film Commission began to name important fgures from the audiovisual industry as Honorary Ambassadors. Their work in promoting Spain as a key destination for flm and TV shoots is invaluable.

"Alongside that, the constant support from the national and local governments and flm commissions, has fuelled opportunities for the latest group of emerging and highly talented professionals such as Carla Simón, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2022 Berlinale," Rosado adds.

Pontevedra is a region in northwest Spain whose capital city of the same name is known for its perfectly preserved old town and the Gothic Basilica of Santa María la Mayor, as well as the Ruinas de San Domingos, the remains of a 14th-century convent. According to Guillermo Gonzàlez Izaguirre of

Turismo Rias Baixas: “There have been several locations that have doubled up as other countries over the last few years. The two I would pick as particularly interesting are The Unit (La Unidad), a police thriller for TV that used locations in the province to double up as Syria; and A Man of Action, a drama in which Vigo — the biggest city in our province — and its beautiful modernist buildings, became Paris," Gonzàlez Izaguirre says. "It’s defnitely one of our strong points that this sort of modernist architecture can easily become any one of many European cities.” He adds: “Our islands and beaches can also be anywhere in the Atlantic and so can our forests. We also have plenty of Eucalyptus forests that have a certain Australian look, a surprising phenomenon that has been remarked upon by several visiting producers. Currently, we’re undeniably beneftting from the fact that Spanish Tax Incentives for international productions and co-productions have been increased this year, particularly for TV series. This is having a positive impact on our attractiveness as a location.”

Alongside the fact that Spain's Canary Islands have increased the maximum tax relief on a single flm entirely shot there to €36m per movie, making it one of the highest movie shoot caps in Europe, the Canary Islands are known for the many possibilities ofered by their unique locations, where an impressive range of countries — and even continents — can be doubled on a single island. Just a few of the productions shot on these islands include the fourth season of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, where Gran Canaria doubled for Thailand and Myanmar, while in Tenerife they simulated Mexico and Thailand. Gran Canaria has also doubled as Cuba in Netfix movie The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez; and as a Californian desert for El Zorro.

“The series El Zorro is a big production for Amazon Prime and although the story does not take place in the Canary Islands, it is defnitely a promotion for the island, its crew, infrastructures and range of locations,” Gran Canaria Film Commission’s Nuria Guinnot says. “The main location is Sioux City, a Western theme park located in the south of Gran Canaria. Apart from that, the series has been shot in exterior desert locations in the south and north of the island. Another important location has been the Gabinete Literario, a beautiful building from the frst half of the 19th century.”

This same multi-facetted island also doubled for Andalucía in The Curse II, and Lanzarote and Tenerife were an imaginary, inhabited planet in another galaxy for Foundation. Norwegian thriller series Ammo, about the arms industry, was shot in various areas of the north and centre of Fuerteventura, simulating Mali, while Tenerife was Mauritius for Amor de Madre, and Equatorial Guinea for Dos Vidas.

And according to Natacha Mora Yanes of Canary Islands Film, there’s much more: “Risco de San Nicolás and San Juan in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as well as Las Moraditas and San Andrés in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, are neighbourhoods in both capital cities that could double for Brazilian or Colombian Favelas. We also have sub-tropical rainforest, where [areas covered in] laurel that look like the Amazon or The Philippines can be found on several islands including La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro and Tenerife, while Fuerteventura’s long white-sand beaches — some with vegetation — look like the Caribbean or Malibu. Minas de San José in Teide National Park is a unique location, a multi-hued volcanic landscape where you don’t need to do anything to be on Mars, or in an apocalyptic situation. The BBC’s Doctor Who has shot there, for example. The Parque Natural de los Volcanes on Lanzarote, where Marvel's The Eternals was shot, is also a perfect place to shoot Mars, with its red and black volcanic features.”

The sand dunes of Jandia on Fuerteventura and Maspalomas in Gran Canaria can double for the Sahara, Dubai or Nigeria. Fishing villages Mogan and Agaete in Gran Canaria — with their white and blue low-rise houses — simulate Greece, and Fuerteventura’s endless highways can double for Texas or Arizona. For futuristic locations, Roque de Los Muchachos

San Sebastian-Gipuzkoa is one of the privileged enclaves in Europe. Due to its proximity to several countries, its landscape diversity, its experience with more than 2000 shoots and recordings, because of its industry and local professionals, its quality of life standards, safety, employment, qualification and because it has established itself as a welcoming and friendly region.

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Visitor Center and the Observatory in La Palma are the stand outs. In terms of housing crew, hotels in Tenerife, including Baobab Suites, Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque, Hotel Taburiente, and The Terraces Luxury Penthouses are all actively flmfriendly. Certain hotels have also served as the set for flms or TV series, for example the Barceló Tenerife hotel, where the UK TV series Crossfre was mainly shot. The Iberostar Grand Mencey hotel in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, served as the set for Netfix series The One; and the Spanish flm La Piel en Llamas used Royal Garden Villas as a main location. In Gran Canaria there are several flm-friendly hotels that are used to working with production companies and who ofer special rates, conditions and facilities for crew and directors, right up to the most demanding of flm stars.

In terms of creating bespoke spaces, other worlds and other places, Ciudad de la Luz Studios in Alicante ofers an impressive array of facilities. The studios occupy an area of 300 hectares, with 11,600 sq m of soundstages, as well as 10,000 sq m of workshops and storage, plus 118 hectares of backlot. The studios were inactive for 10 years by order of the European Union due to a sanction that was supposed to be in place until 2027. However, the Regional Government of Valencia — responsible for the construction and management of the cinematographic complex — managed to get this lifted last year, fve years ahead of schedule, and was able to retake full control of the facilities with the aim of returning them to full activity. The return of Ciudad de la Luz Studios — considered one of the best in the world due to their unique characteristics and privileged location on the shores of the Mediterranean — represents a real boost for the national and European sector. The facilities include six sets, three production support buildings, workshops and warehouses, outdoor flming areas and a large water tank for underwater flming, among others.

The exterior aquatic moat has a natural horizon and is the most attractive asset of the complex, one that has aroused the interest of numerous national and international producers and has hosted major international productions including The Impossible by Juan Antonio Bayona, starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland. This aquatic space is equipped with wave-generating machines, water cannons and tip tanks. It also has a spillway on the south side and partially on the east side, an extendible green screen and ample space on either side to allow for set construction. Alongside the national tax incentive, the Government of Valencia — through the IVAC (Valencia Film Institute) — has a budget for cinema aid when a production takes place in the region, is co-produced with a local production company and Valencian professionals are hired.

Seville, the jewel in the crown of Andalucía, somewhat poetically hosted The Crown in 2019 at the Hotel Alfonso XIII, where they recreated Los Angeles in the 1960s. “Also in 2021 they shot at Plaza de América and Casa Pilatos Palace using these locations to double for places in Egypt that featured in Al Fayed's childhood,” Saida Segura of Seville’s Film Commission, says. “And the series Sin Limites used the Old Artillery Factory in Seville to recreate the port of Cape Verde in the 16th century.”

The city’s Plaza de España has been featured in several flms, including in Star Wars as the Naboo Kingdom, doubling as Egypt in Lawrence of Arabia and again more recently for the comedy Kaos. “The Royal Palace, (Reales Alcazares) is the perfect setting for recreating an Arab or medieval palace,” Segura adds. “It was already used for Kingdom of Heaven and as a fantasy world in Game of Thrones, where it was in the Kingdom of Dorne. In terms of commercial shoots, the bridges of the Guadalquivir river, the new headquarters of the Congress and the Convention Center (Fibes) and Cartuja Island, have been featured often due to their contemporary aesthetics.

"Also, Seville has several palaces that can double for an ancient Italian or Greek city, and then there’s the interior of the Casino de la Exposición, which has been used to recreate the 1920s, Arab palaces, and even mythological kingdoms. The Port of Seville, one of the largest in Spain, can double for any port of today or even one from centuries ago since it has a very interesting natural riverside zone,” Segura says.

A host of international productions have used Navarra to recreate other parts of the world, both real or imaginary. “The

American series Vampire Academy, for Peacock, recently used several locations across Navarre over a six-month period. But mainly the series was based around the town and castle of Olite to create the vampire academy and the village into a place that could be anywhere in the world,” Sara Sevilla of the Navarra Film Commission says. “Netfix chose the village of Lekunberri — featuring solid, white-washed stone-built buildings — to shoot Tú No Eres Especial in its entirety, mainly because the look represents a multitude of rural settings. The same goes for Llegaron de Noche, which used Pamplona's old airport. Currently closed due to the construction of a new airport in the city, it ofers great possibilities for productions, with a construction aesthetic straight out of the 1970s and 1980s. This airport, like any of our interior locations, could easily be absolutely anywhere in the world. The soon-to-be-released flm Irati used the second largest beech forest in Europe. And lastly, we can’t overlook Bardenas Reales. Over the years it has proven to be an extremely versatile location that has represented the desert, Mexico and even distant planets including Mars. One of the special qualities of Navarre is that it features landscapes ranging from desert to forest, allowing any part of the world to be represented within our region.”

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