In a recent report, PROFILM, an association of production companies, revealed a 33.6% drop in foreign film investment in Spain in 2024. The reason for this decline? Spain has apparently become less competitive than its European neighbours.
The report, summarised by Cineuropa, shows that investment fell from €197.4 million in 2023 to €129.9 million in 2024. These figures match the 27 projects carried out in nine Spanish utonomous communities, compared to 37 the previous year. There is also a drop in the number of new hires, from 10,747 to 8,510 – showing that decreasing production investment also impacts other sectors, including accommodation and equipment hire.
The president of PROFILM, Fernando Victoria de Lecea, says this decline is because “
most European countries have updated and strengthened their tax incentive systems to attract a greater volume of productions while also increasing their presence in international audiovisual markets. Spain, however, maintains a more rigid tax system which is less responsive to competing markets.”
The tax incentives offered by France and Hungary are 30% and by Italy 40%, while in Spain the incentives are 30% only for the first million euros of deductible expenses and 25% after that. Instead PROFILM proposes a single tax deduction of 30% and in post-production lowering the current minimum expenditure of €200,000 required to access the incentive.
