Andalucía enjoys bumper year as backdrop for Hollywood blockbusters

Varied, beautiful and nearly always sunny, Andalucía is gaining a reputation as a world-class film and TV backdrop.

Here’s a rather eye-raising fact: Andalucía was used as the filming location for 1,336 films and TV shows in 2016.

This figure represents a 10% increase on 2015, and serves to underline the region’s status as Spain’s very own Hollywood…

This growth brought a whole host of benefits to the region, with official data from Andalucía’s tourism board revealing that the economy was boosted by €118 million in 2016 thanks to TV and film shooting, while 15,500 jobs – many temporary – were created.

“Andalucía has become a leader in cine-tourism,” said Andalucía councillor Francisco Javier Fernández. “Our collaboration with the Andalucía Film Commission has ensured our results are the best in a decade.

“The importance of the film industry has also stimulated the economy and generated employment for the community. And as we have learned from portals such as TripAdvisor, we have seen a very significant increase in searches for holidays in areas that were used as the backdrop to films and TV series.”

Some of the blockbuster names associated with an Andalusian backdrop include Game of Thrones, The Trip to Spain, and Spanish adventure film Oro. Cities such as Seville are regularly selected for shooting due to the excellent sunlight, the stunning architecture and the willingness of Seville’s city council to welcome big budget productions.

Beyond Seville, the rugged mountainous terrain innate to Andalucía also makes for a variety of backdrops that lends itself to all manner of film and TV shows, including both futuristic and historic productions.