The Canary Islands take the throne of Western Cinema from Almeria thanks to its tax incentives

Andalusia demands, together with other communities, to be able to apply the same public aid that the Basque Country and Navarre also have, which have altered the filming market in Spain

[Filming of "Trinidad", a feminist western with Karla Sofía Gascón and Paz Vega. (EFE/Ángel Medina G)]

El Confidencial

By José Luis Losa

07/07/2025 - 05:00

Last month, the City Council of the Almeria town of Tabernas regretted the cancellation of the filming of two films coinciding with the announcement of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to put 100% tariffs on feature films shot outside the country.

The truth is that the two cancelled films, of American origin, previously had some financial problems to carry out the shooting, to which was added the announcement of the president of the White House and the uncertainty about the future of the sector.

This cancellation has been a hard blow for a town that has made the film industry, and tourism associated with this sector, a pillar of its local economy since it became famous in the 70s for hosting the so-called "spaghetti westerns" and that, since then, has hosted all kinds of filming for its spectacular natural landscapes. which include the Tabernas Desert and Cabo de Gata.

[Christian Bale on the set of Ridley Scott's 'Exodus' in Almeria. (Fox)]

Parallel to this bad news, in the Canary Islands this past month there were headlines about the filming of two films that have precisely the classic wild west as a background. The first of them is Trinidad, a film with two international actresses such as Paz Vega and Karla Sofía Gascón (nominated for the Oscars for Emilia Pérez). This feature film, by Sevillian directors José Ortuño and Laura Alvea, is shot in Sioux City, the theme park for westerns in Gran Canaria.

The second of the films is entitled Por un handful de frases, starring the already veteran Jorge Sanz and directed by Alejandro Millán, which is being filmed on the same island. The growth of the Canary Islands as a filming destination in recent years has been boosted by the tax incentives that production companies have there, much higher than what is allowed in the rest of Spain, and which are justified by the insularity factor.

In this first half of the year alone, the Canary Islands have served as the setting for 30 shootings, including series and feature films, both national and international. The island of Gran Canaria has hosted 16 productions and has confirmed another seven shoots until the end of the year, while in Tenerife nine fiction series and five feature films have already been filmed.

However, this public aid alters the free market for filming, harming other territories. The westerns of Almeria are not the only case. Last year a controversy was generated in the Balearic Islands because the film Disco, Ibiza, Locomía was not shot in this famous capital of the Mediterranean but on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

[Image of Blanca Suárez in the film 'Disco, Ibiza, Locomía']

In addition to the Canary Islands, the other territories in which filming has skyrocketed in recent years are Navarre and the Basque Country, where its three provincial councils also apply incentives that are prohibited in the rest of Spain.

Thus, while throughout the country these incentives cannot exceed 30%, in the Basque Country and Navarre they have begun to apply aid that allows productions to be deducted up to 70% of the amount invested.

The situation has distorted the market and has provoked complaints from the rest of the communities. In Andalusia, filming has fallen in the last three years, going from about 180 million euros to 120 million in 2024, according to the report of the Andalusia Film Commission. This entity and the Junta de Andalucía criticized the current situation a few months ago. Even the Minister of the Presidency of the Andalusian Government, Antonio Sanz, announced that he was considering denouncing "fiscal dumping" in the Spanish audiovisual sector to the European Commission.

Six months later, the Andalusian Administration has partially changed its strategy. As confirmed to El Confidencial by sources from the Ministry, the Junta has maintained contacts with the rest of the affected autonomous communities and is defining a common position.

The idea is to vary this threat of denouncing public aid from the Basque Country, Navarre or the Canary Islands to the EU so that they lower their aid. It is now a matter of asking all regions to be able to raise their tax incentives to that same ceiling.

The director of the Andalusia Film Commission, Carlos Rosado, understands that the Junta does not want to get involved in a battle between communities that also affects the European level, but insists that "the situation must be studied in depth because we do not understand the justification for regions such as the Basque Country to have this public aid and the rest not, which means altering the market and free competition".