The audiovisual sector continues to be one of the economic engines of the Canary Islands, in view of the income that film and television shoots leave in the islands, with a growing trend each year.
According to the balance sheet prepared by the Culture area of the Government of the Canary Islands, through Canary Islands Film, in 2025, 180 productions were filmed on the islands, thirty more than the previous year, which has meant a direct income of 432 million euros, double that of 2024.
These data correspond to the volume of audiovisual shoots carried out in total across the islands of the archipelago, by international, state, and local production companies, not including advertising shoots. If this last activity is added, revenues would rise to 440 million, according to data compiled from the different film commissions of the islands.
This balance has been presented by the general director of Cultural Innovation and Creative Industries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Cristóbal de la Rosa, accompanied by the coordinator of Canary Islands Film, Natacha Mora, who were very satisfied with the figures achieved this year and which show that the islands are already a clear reference for production companies both nationally and internationally.
For Cristóbal de la Rosa, it is clear that “2025 was a very good year for Canarian talent, who supports the development of our sector, who makes it possible for films that want to shoot in Canarias to do so. Because we are capable of providing them with services and of having people enriching the creative ideas of those films. That is, without a doubt, what has allowed us to have these excellent results on our islands today”.
For her part, Natacha Mora, indicated that “we can speak this year of a record in terms of investment, with some 432 million euros of expenditure in Canarias, and 180 audiovisual productions, of which 76% are Spanish and the rest international”. She added that in 2025 directors such as Pedro Almodóvar or Rodrigo Sorogoyen passed through the islands; films that are currently nominated for the Goya, as is the case of ‘La cena’, with eight nominations; or international productions with actors such as Johnny Deep, Penélope Cruz, John Travolta, Samuel Jackson.
Features, documentaries, series, animation and 20,000 hires
The audiovisual industry also represents a job-driving activity in the Canary Islands, registering in 2025 a total of 20,000 direct hires if shoots for advertising purposes are also taken into account.
Of the 180 productions accounted for, the majority are Spanish, with a total of 134 projects (74%); and 46 international (26%). Among all of them are 67 fiction feature films, 36 documentaries; 29 fiction series and 23 animation projects, in addition to 16 television programming and 9 short films.
Among the 134 state-level productions it would be worth highlighting among many others, ‘Bitter Christmas’, by Pedro Almodóvar; ‘The Beloved One’, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen; ‘The Dinner’, by Manuel Gómez Pereira, with 8 nominations for the Goya Awards; ‘ Jakarta’, series with Javier Cámara that won three awards at the Feroz Awards (among them Best Series); ‘Above and bellow’, with Antonio Banderas; ‘Under a Volcano’, with William Levy (who is already a regular in Canarias); ‘The Labyrinth of Butterflies’, with the Turkish actor Can Yaman; or the animated film ‘Heidi, the rescue of the lynx’.
Of the 46 international projects, especially from EEUU and Europe (Sweden, Denmark or Germany, among others), it would be worth highlighting ‘The Beast’, with Samuel LO. Jackson and John Travolta; ‘Noturne’, with Jude Law and ‘Day Drinker’, with Johnny Deep and Penélope Cruz.
It should be noted that the number of state-wide production companies continues to grow that choose the Canary Islands as a filming location for their projects, possibly attracted by the tax modification achieved in 2024 by the autonomous Government to eliminate the annual limit of 50 million euros that, until that moment, existed in the incentives for the audiovisual sector in the Canary Islands, in addition to the experience and talent of the island production companies. Added to this is the incentive granted to peninsular companies by the introduction of the so-called ‘financing contract’.
An increase has also been detected in the number of local productions that access tax incentives, which was barely reflected a few years ago and which comes to show the great step taken by the island sector.
Likewise, many of the state productions correspond to co-productions of Spain with Latin American countries (República Dominicana, México) and with Europe (Alemania, Bélgica, Italia), as well as with Reino Unido.
Added to this is that several of these productions filmed in 2025 will be present in different sections of the Festival de Cine de Málaga, one of the most important in the country along with that of San Sebastián, whose next edition will take place in March. Out of competition will be, for example, the feature films ‘La familia Benetton, ‘A una isla de ti’, ‘Auri’, ‘Los Justos’ ‘(co-production with a local company), and ‘Solos’, directed by the Canarian Guillermo Ríos. Also in the official section out of competition will be the series ‘Acoustic home’
Another interesting fact for Canarias is the increase in production companies that also carry out post-production processes in our territory for their projects, something that did not happen until now except for a few exceptions. In this balance, at least 16 films or series whose post-production work has been done in the islands are accounted for. Among them, the series ‘The Witcher 3’ and the film ‘Padre no hay más que uno 5’ are noteworthy.
It is worth remembering that all audiovisual production companies that come to film in the Canary Islands have the obligation to hire teams from the islands. In the case of international ones, they must hire a Canary Islands service company; while national ones will do so with respect to the technical and artistic team.
On the other hand, the economic income from filmings comes both from the hiring of these companies and personnel as well as in hotels, restaurants, transport or catering, among many others.
Other attractions for the production companies that come to the Canary Islands are the tax incentives, possibly among the most interesting currently offered in Europe, the variety of landscapes, and the climate of the islands.
Potential of the local industry
The experience accumulated over the last years by those who make up the local audiovisual industry, the enormous effort of the island companies, and the talent of their professionals, are considered a fundamental asset to achieve this favorable evolution of filming.
All of this also as a result of work that has been carried out jointly over the last few years, through a strategy that dedicates a significant part of its efforts to boosting the local audiovisual sector and to attracting filmings from other countries to Canarias.
The support for original creation by the Government of the Canary Islands is based especially on a subsidy plan integrated by lines of support for Canarian films and series: production, minority co-production, development and short films, for the realization of audiovisual events and for the creation of screenplays of Canarian authorship.
In 2025, these subsidies amounted to more than three million euros, executed in parallel with other initiatives and projects that are supported through the Canary Institute of Cultural Development (ICDC) and its Canary Islands Film unit.
To all this are added the actions carried out through an audiovisual sector internationalization strategy. Canary Islands Film, in which the island councils, Proexca and the private sector are also represented, attends the most important European markets and festivals with the aim of supporting professionals from the islands in obtaining funds or partners for the production of new films and series, in addition to attracting film shoots with which to obtain the results that have been previously presented.