Rubén Zarauza: “Canarias adapts to the needs of any production”

For some years now, the Canary Islands have become one of the most chosen and attractive destinations for filming international productions, and this is mainly due to the implementation of one of the most powerful tax incentives for film production and audiovisual projects in Europe: those who wish to shoot their projects in the Canary Islands can benefit from a deduction of up to 54% of their costs.
“A couple of years ago, maybe, an option like this was interesting, but now, in the midst of so much economic uncertainty, it is almost mandatory. When you look in detail the budget you end up getting thanks to this tax incentive, the viability can be clearly seen, and the greenlight is achieved much easier,” commented Rubén Zarauza, President of the Cluster Audiovisual de las Islas Canarias and Director of Amuse Studios, a subsidiary of the French animation production company Amuse Animation.

In 2015, the new Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands (REF, by its acronym in Spanish) was approved, influencing tax advantages for audiovisual productions in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. That regime was established in relation to the geographical remoteness of the Islands with the rest of the Spanish territory, aiming to promote the economic and social development of the archipelago, offering extremely advantageous fiscal conditions for audiovisual production. Regarding peninsular conditions, the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands increases the deductions from the Corporate Tax Law for audiovisual productions by 20 percentage points and the limits by 80%. That means the incentive for foreign and Spanish productions in the Canary Islands means a 45-50% deduction, which can increase to 54% for the first million euros. The two incentives have a return limit of €36 million for feature films and €18 million per episode for series.

“Production in the Canary Islands has grown exponentially thanks to this incentive. Without it, we only had local production, and now the Canary Islands have become an international production hub. The projects are bigger, and the number of productions continues to grow. Even though we were coming from a pandemic, productions in 2022 have grown significantly compared to 2021, and for 2023, we expect even more filming,” Zarauza said.

The demand for audiovisual content has only grown in recent years. In 2018, for example, 79 productions were filmed, generating €60 million in revenue. In 2019, the number increased to 122 productions and €48 million. In 2020, despite the pandemic, 80 productions were shot, totaling €28 million. In 2021, the figure escalated again to 155 productions and €98 million. Lastly, in 2022, 164 shows were filmed in the Islands, breaking a new record.

Beyond the economic incentive, Zarauza believes that other reasons make the Canary Islands an attractive destination. “First, we have many qualified professionals. The weather is also good because the daylight hours allow for more filming time if you want to shoot outside. There are even natural spaces that allow producers to replicate what Mars or a jungle could be like. We have seen productions of all kinds here, so I think Canarias adapts to the needs of any production,” he assured.

By Federico Marzullo