+2020 & TV SERIES
The F**k it List (2020)
Agent Kelly (2020)
The Legion (2020)
Way Down (2020)
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Rifkin’s Festival (2020)
The Roads Not Taken (2020)
Ron Hopper’s Misfortune (2020)
Granada Nights (2020)
It Snows in Benidorm (2020)
State of Prey (2020)
The Midnight Sky (2020)
Trevor (2020)
Chasing Wonders (2020)
Black Beach (2020)
A Perfect Enemy (2020)
One Glorious Sunset (2020)
The Odd Perspective (2020)
Us (2020)
Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020)
The Music Island (2021)
Last Letter from your Lover (2021)
Off the Rails (2021)
The Eternals (2021)
The Internationalist (2021)
Borrego (2021)
True Things (2021)
Gunfight at Dry River (2021)
Don’t Come Here (2021)
SAS: Red Notice (2021)
Under Spanish Skies (2021)
Red Notice (2021)
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021)
The Nanny’s Night (2021)
Send it! (2021)
The Matador’s Cape (2022)
Uncharted (2022)
Asteroid City (2022)
Operation Mincemeat (2022)
The Man from Rome (2022)
Marlowe (2022)
Renko (2022)
The Covenant(2022)
Hustle (2022)
The Mother (2022)
D is for Detroit (2022)
A Man of Action (2022)
Who Killed Che Guevara (2022)
Planet of the Astronauts (2022)
Dead Man, Don’t Die (2022)
What About Love (2023)
Lucas (2023)
Fyre Rises (2023)
American Star (2023)
Catching Dust (2023)
Uncancelled (2023)
TV Series Made in Spain
Game of Thrones
House of the Dragon
The Witcher
Black Mirror
Westworld
Silent Witness
The Crown
Doctor Who
Berlin Station
White Lines
Emerald City
The Spanish Princess
Hanna
Killing Eve
The One
Soulmates
Warrior Nun
Wheel of Time
Foundation
The Mallorca Files
Penny Dreadful
Years and Years
Rosemary and Thyme
Eastenders
El C.I.D.
The Love Boat
In From the Cold
La Fortuna
Little Birds
The Head
Snatch
Utopia Planitia
The Bounty Hunters
Genius: Picasso
Top Boy
The Man who Fell to Earth
Jack Ryan
Inventing Anna
That Dirty Black Bag
The Diplomat
No Return
The Lazarus Project
American Odyssey
Any Human Heart
Blindspot
Covert Affairs
Kaos
Mrs. Davis
Vampire Academy
Queen of the South
Land of Women
Dark Justice
The English
The White Princess
All in the Game
A Town Called Malice
Palomino
The Rat Patrol
Intergalactic
Realm of the Waterfall
Andor
Citadel
The Rings of Power
Living the Dream
Films in Development
Tau Ceti Four
An Actor’s Journey
Shooting Bernarda
After the Fall
The F**k it List (2020)
A disenchanted, privileged American without a bucket, becomes a social media phenomenon, but all he really wants is his girl, who has gone to Spain for a dubious job.
He tracks her down at Porto Colom, Mallorca, even though she sends him her location as Porto Cristo.
Fortunately the taxi he takes has the real name plastered on the side and they live happily ever after. What’s more, the black and white lighthouse is easily recognisable.
Agent Kelly (2020)
Kelly is a retired assassin in her 50s who returns to her old ways for (wait for it…..) revenge.
She escapes to Spain to avoid her hunters, ending up in Almería, where shooting of both kinds took place in El Ejido, Puerto Almerimar and Almería city.
More filming took place in the city of Málaga and in Motril, Granada.
The Legion (2020)
The Romans are bogged down in Armenia and send a messenger to get help. While they wait the actors can enjoy the mountains, lakes and valleys of the Natural Park of Somiedo in Asturias.
Among the park’s locations were La Farrapona at 1,708 metres, and the frozen lakes of Saliencia.
The crew’s lodgings were at Pola de Somiedo. In fact the staff at the Castillo del Alba hotel informed us that the actors practised their sword fighting on a terrace behind the hotel.
All this and Mickey Rourke too!
Way Down (2020)
Catalan director Jaume Balagueró is no stranger to international projects and this time combines Spanish and foreign actors in a heist movie with the 2010 World Cup final, won by Spain, as a backdrop.
Central Madrid was briefly shut down around the emblematic Plaza de Cibeles, as our stars tried to rob the Bank of Spain.
41 days of shooting included scenes shot at the Palacio Cibeles (site of the Town Hall and the CentroCentro contemporary arts centre), Edificio Zúrich in calle Alcalá, Edificio Metrópolis on the corner of Gran Vía, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Instituto Cervantes, Palacio de Buenavista (HQ of the Spanish army) and the Biblioteca Nacional
A thousand extras, 340 crew, 80 police officers and 80 soldiers took part. As did the Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore, who had actually lived in Madrid for a year.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
In September 2018, filming took place in Almería on the follow-up to Wonder Woman. The Alcazaba castle is supposedly that of the King of Crude, Emir Said Bin Abydos in Cairo, and was one of the main locations used, including the gardens of the Casa del Alcaide, the Cerro de San Cristóbal with its distinctive statue of Christ and the Muralla de Jayrán.
The church of San Pedro with its twin towers also appears.
Filming also took place at Tenerife (around the mountains of Maciza de Teno and the gulley of Masca where Wrath of the Titans was shot) and Isla Baja.
A car chase took place on Fuerteventura, at the Corralejo sand dunes, where a village was also built, and there was also filming at La Oliva around Parque Holandés and the beach of El Jablito, as well as the beaches at Sotavento de Jandía.
On La Palma island, they superimposed images of a satellite headquarters, using the same location as the Aretuza island in The Witcher, which was also superimposed.
Rifkin’s Festival (2020)
Woody Allen does for San Sebastián, Gipuzcoa what he did for Barcelona, as well as Paris, London and even New York, with a film centred on the famous San Sebastián film festival and filming all over the city’s most iconic locations such as the Concha beach.
Allen shot footage at Calle La Campanario in the historic centre, as well as el Boulevard and la plaza Cervantes.
The beach at Zumaia, Pasaia Donibane, a boat across the bay at Pasajes de San Juan and Itzurun, also appear, as does the iconic María Cristina bridge, and Chillida’s famous statue, Peine del Viento.
At the Torre de Atotxa skyscraper an airplane is rebuilt, Orona becomes an airport and at the village of Ereñozu there is a picnic. A musical interlude takes place at the Altxerri Jazz bar.
The Roads Not Taken (2020)
La Isleta del Moro, where the writer spends his time in a bar on the beach and discusses how to end his book with two girls on a bar terrace, the Parque Natural Cabo de Gata (both represent Greece), while the cemetery of San José in the city of Almería and the desert of Tabernas (supposedly in his character’s native Mexico) were all locations in a film starring Javier Bardem, whose mental state is deteriorating, much to the displeasure of his daughter.
The cast used the Hotel Cortijo Paraiso in Los Escullos, where Pilar Miró filmed “El Pájaro de la Felicidad” in 1993 and the Hotel Elba in the city of Almería.
Ron Hopper’s Misfortune (2020)
Canary Island director Jaime Falero shot the whole film in his native Tenerife, a story about Hell with Vinnie Jones as the Ferryman who takes you there.
Granada Nights (2020)
A young British-Asian man heads to Granada to save a relationship but arrives too late and has to make do with friendship and culture in this beautiful city.
The Alhambra inevitably features, but so does the Camborio Club for some more up to date scenes.
Writer/Director Abid Khan informed us: “Here is some information on the major locations; we shot in a lot of locations around the city but these are the main scenes – If you need more details let me know?”
Hammam Al Ándalus, Cueva de Curro – Flamenco Cave with eccentric gypsy owner Curro, Cafe Futbol, Carmen de los Martires, Mirador de San Miguel, Camino del Sacromonte, Pub Legend, Café Bar Pennsylvania, Bohemia Jazz Café, Teteria Baghdad, Granada Inn Hostel, Centro Lenguas Modernas, Potemkin café, Hannigan & Sons Irish Pub.
“We also all stayed in Hospedaje Almohada – we rented the whole place and this was actually the place that I stayed in 2005-2006 and started writing the script.
Another interesting fact is that I wrote the script on locations e.g. I wrote the Mirador scene at the mirador and the Camborio nightclub scene I wrote whilst I was at the nightclub! I wanted the film to be authentic to the place which is why I wrote in this way. We also shot the gypsy processions as they were happening and wrapped a fictional narrative around documentary scenes. With the vast history and culture of the city, it was important the locations needed to be a main character in their own right because this film in essence is a love letter to the city of Granada.”
It Snows in Benidorm (2020)
Isabel Coixet directs this story set in the bright, murky location of Benidorm, Alicante, where some British citizens such as Timothy Spall take a break from sunny Manchester.
The Red Wall of Calpe has nothing to do with politics, but is an apartment complex designed by Ricardo Bofill. This and other locations such as Pola Park in Santa Pola, and the area between Hotel Canfali and Villa Venecia, make up some of the locations, as do the streets of Benidorm.
Carmen Machi plays a policewoman obsessed with the presence of poetess Sylvia Plath in Benidorm in the 50s, and her house is located in Plaza del Torrejó.
Alex’s workplace is located beneath Apartamentos Oasis.
State of Prey (2020)
A Scandinavian thriller with a mix of nationalities and languages, including English, much of the filming takes place in and around Torrevieja, Alicante, thanks to the ready supply of coastline, mountains, skyscrapers and natural light, according to its director.
Filming also took place at Callosa de Segura, Benidorm, Santa Pola and Elche.
The Midnight Sky (2020)
George Clooney was on the Canary island of La Palma in February 2020 staying at the exclusive Hacienda de Abajo, at Tazacorte.
One of the locations for this film about a scientist stranded in the post-apocalyptic Arctic is the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. Two scenes were shot there featuring Ethan (son of Gregory) Peck as the younger Augustine (Clooney), sacrificing all for science on ‘the island,’ at the ACTEC site.
Trevor (2020)
Trevor seems to be a classic ex-pat, living the good life at his villa in Spain, and then his daughter and her boyfriend come to visit.
The rolling countryside is to be found around Cardedeu in the province of Barcelona.
Chasing Wonders (2020)
Although set in Australia, the film is about a Spanish family and stars Paz Vega and Edward James Olmos.
Filming also took place in Barcelona and Lleída.
Black Beach (2020)
Although mostly shot in Spanish, there is also a fair amount of English dialogue, mostly at the beginning when the action takes place in Belgium, and also during an inspiring English class given by nuns in an African school.
In Gran Canaria, the oil drilling platforms in the bay of Las Palmas were one of the reasons for filming there, and the restaurant Segundo Muelle, next to the Hotel Santa Catalina was also used for the final meeting between Carlos and his mother.
Other exteriors included Playa del Inglés, Puerto Rico, Puerto de Mogán and San Agustín.
The mansion where Carlos is lodged in Africa was actually in Gran Canaria as was some of the jungle.
The discotheque scene was filmed in Madrid, with what was hopefully a digitally inserted giraffe in the foyer.
The final chase scene was multinational, starting in Ghana, continuing in Toledo, moving on to Canarias. The car crashed in Toledo, in an African village which was built in Toledo inside a Spanish army camp. The action then returns to Madrid and Ghana.
A Perfect Enemy (2020)
Kiké Maíllo directs another Spanish film shot in English, this time about an architect who has a run-in with a girl.
Filmed in various locations in Barcelona, such as El Prat de Llobregat, El Maresme, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Reus, Masia Freixa, Terrassa and Sant Vicenç de Montalt.
Ana Eiras of Sábado Películas informed us that filming took place in the trade fair, Fira de Reus, in Barcelona for interior shots, in Maresme and El Prat for car shots and in Terrassa on set at the Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya.
One Glorious Sunset (2020)
The problems of dealing with dementia when ‘Dad’ starts to lose it.
Filmed on Tenerife. Deanna Dewey of TF Productions informed that “the film was mostly shot in the South of the Island with a few shots in the north and up in the mountains. The locations I can remember are Golf del Sur, Valle San Lorenzo, Puerto Colon and Los Abrigos.”
The Odd Perspective (2020)
Another production in English from the aFilm workshop based in Sitges, where some of the action takes place, as well as in Barcelona.
Multiple murders and a synergist detective who can connect stuff!
Us (2020)
Us is a four part BBC mini series starring Tom Hollander, who tries to turn a failing marriage into a holiday romance instead of vice versa.
His holidays include Paris, Amsterdam, Venice and Barcelona, although Venice is in reality also Cataluña.
Tom is Douglas and is accompanied by his wife Connie (Saskia Reeves) and son Albie (Tom Taylor).
In episode 3 Albie leaves his parents to join a girl called Kat in Venice. Douglas searches for him there and comes across a couple of musicians in a typical Venetian square, which is plaza de Sant Felip Neri.
Douglas meets a woman called Freja (Sofie Gråbøl), and they have a coffee on a hotel terrace, Hotel Neri (calle de Sant Sever, 5).
In episode 4 in plaza de Sant Felip Neri, Freja and Douglas have another coffee, when Douglas’s wife rings.
Freja and Douglas go for a walk after supper and come across a Roman temple, which in reality is in the city of Vic in calle Pare Xifré. Then they walk along the arcades in the plaza Mayor.
The next day Douglas visits Siena, but it’s still Vic, and here we see him sitting on the steps of the Sant Pere cathedral.
In episode 5 Douglas actually travels to Barcelona, and finds his son leaving a disco, which is in fact number 4 plaza Sant Josep Oriol.
In a flashback we see Connie and Douglas watching the light show at the Font Mágica.
The next day Douglas wanders through plaza Carles Buïgas by the Font Mágica. We see him talking to Albie with the MNAC as a backdrop.
Douglas and Albie drink coffee with churros in Bar El Mendizábal in calle Junta de Comerç, 2. That night they have a drink in Granja El Drac de Sant Jordi in plaza de Sant Josep Oriol, 3. After visiting a disco we see them sitting on a bench inside pasaje del Crèdit on the corner of calle Baixada de Sant Miquel. The disco was in fact a vegetarian restaurant called Salida, at 7 Baixada de Sant Miquel, although the interiors were filmed in Sitges. Returning to their hotel they pass through plaza Real and las Ramblas.
Then we see Albie and Douglas enter the Estación de Francia in Avenida Marqués de l’Argentera to catch a train to Sitges.
In episode 6 they are back in Barcelona. From a taxi we see Paseo Picasso and la Pedrera before arriving at a rented flat in calle Teodor Roviralta.
Douglas and Connie accompany Albie to the Estación de Francia to see him off.
We then have a tour of the city including plaza de Sant Felip Neri, the Bisbe bridge and the sculpture of the Toro Pensador by Josep Granyer y Giralt in Rambla Cataluña.
Douglas and Connie walk around the barrio Gótico to the plaza del Pi through a market to a juice bar which in reality is the Giovanni ice cream shop.
We see the Montjuic cable car, and Connie looking at the city from the Jardines de Miramar.
They visit the Fundación Miró, and we also see plaza Cataluña, the Calatrava Tower and Paseo de Gracia before they return home.
Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020)
Keanu Reeves stars in an update of an old story about two rockers trying to save the world.
Although filmed entirely in Louisiana USA, San Dimas, set in the year 2720, is in fact Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences (CAC) of Valencia, also used in George Clooney’s Tomorrowland, although this time the stars stayed home and did everything on green screen, while Valencia’s sci-fi complex was padded out with some serious CGI. One such example of padding, was adding Calatrava’s Montjuïc Communications Tower, located in Barcelona’s Olympic Park and built in order to transmit the 1992 Olympic Games.
CAC represents the home of the Great Ones, led by Holland Taylor, Charlie Sheen’s mother in Two and a Half Men.
The Music Island (2021)
The music island is of course Ibiza, although this philosophical film was also shot in the UK and Bulgaria.
Last Letter from your Lover (2021)
Filming of the flashback scenes to 1965 took place in and around the internationally famous Formentor Hotel at the eastern extreme of Mallorca, representing the French Riviera, in a romance spanning decades.
Off the Rails (2021)
The cast includes Judi Dench and Franco Nero, and some flight scenes were shot at the Bennisalem Aeródrom in Mallorca, where a selection of planes can be seen.
The modernist architecture of the capital, Palma, is seen in some evening shots and El Passeig des Born de Palma represents Paris, while Costa de la Pols also appears. The 13th century gothic Basílica of Sant Francesc and the parish of Santa Eulàlia are seen and also the cathedral, where on 2nd February the Festa de la Llum was woven into the plot. The stained glass windows of the cathedral play a role in the plot.
Filming took place in Pollença too.
The Eternals (2021)
Angelina Jolie stars in a science fiction story about immortals who visit the volcanic wasteland of the Teide National Park, Tenerife.
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are also involved and represent pre-historic landscapes for a film that spans the ages as the Gods meddle in the affairs of Man.
Shooting in Fuerteventura took place around Ampuyenta and nearby El Espinal, as well as Buen Paso and on the volcanic, black beach at La Solapa at Pájara, all of which are in the Parque Rural de Betancuria, representing ancient Mesopotamia.
The film is part of the Marvel empire, and the crew stayed at two hotels in El Castillo, including the Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach at Caleta de Fuste.
For a touch of the Amazon, the crew moved to Fragas do Eume, a forest in the Galician province of La Coruña.
The Internationalist (2021)
An Australian photographer goes in search of his grandfather, who disappeared during the Spanish Civil War.
The locations include Corbera del Ebro, (Tarragona), and Barcelona.
Today Corbera’s old town, destroyed in the Battle of the Ebro in 1938, has been conserved in its ruined state, and the church is now an exhibition centre, reminding us of its tragic history.
Borrego (2021)
A botanist researching in the desert gets caught up in a drug smuggling ring.
The desert concerned was Tabernas in Almeria, and not California.
True Things (2021)
Ruth Wilson stars in a drama produced by Jude Law and which has been filmed in the province of Málaga.
The Paseo Marítimo Ciudad de Melilla was one location, as was Plaza de la Merced, with some interiors shot in a flat in La Malagueta.
The port, the historic centre and the town of Benalmádena also appear.
Gunfight at Dry River (2021)
Two abandoned villages in the province of Tarragona, Piñeres and Corbera de Ebro, are used to recreate a Mexican township with water problems; a topical question in Catalonia and the rest of Spain.
Corbera del Ebro’s tatty, desolated look is not so much due to drought, as to the fact that the old town was destroyed during the Battle of the Ebro in Spain’s Civil War in 1938.
The desert scenery of Tozal de la Cobeta, Monegros, Zaragoza is also employed.
SAS: Red Notice (2021)
Another story by ex-SAS soldier Andy McNab, about a fellow SAS man, Buckingham, trapped in the Chunnel by terrorists with his girlfriend.
Buckingham has a place in Mallorca at Son Marroig, which was also used in The Kovac Box (2006).
The final wedding scene includes images of the Sa Foradada peninsula hole in a cliff, allegedly made by a cannonball in a 1582 conflict between North African pirates and Majorcan Christians.
Don’t Come Here (2021)
As opposed to wishing you were here, as a tourist is murdered on idyllic Mallorca.
Filming took place around the village of Campos, and especially at Sa Barrala, where the forest cabins were located.
Under Spanish Skies (2021)
A very international cast with actors and crew from Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia, China, Japan, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Canada, U.S.A. Uruguay, Peru and Suriname, and with a timeless theme: what to do when your partner dies.
A woman living on an idyllic farm, which in reality can be found at Cazalla de la Sierra in Sevilla province, invites some old friends to visit her as she makes some decisions.
Nathan Buck, director and writer of Before El Finâ (later changed to Under Spanish Skies) told us “the film was shot entirely on location in Cazalla on three private farms in the area: Finca Juncarejo, Cortijo Chacón Casa Rural & Casa Rural Riscos Altos. We shot the film in August, 2019 and completed it in June, 2021”.
Finca Juncarejo represents the main building with the pool and small belfry where widowed Leah lives.
Red Notice (2021)
This year sees two films with Red Notice in the title, as this is the name of an Interpol alert.
This international film stars Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot.
Johnson and Reynolds travel to Valencia to rob arch-villain Sottovoce, although an aerial view of the city’s main square for two seconds is all we see.
Reynolds and Johnson escape the clutches of Sottovoce and escape through a trap door into the middle of a bullfight. Johnson is butted by a bull in the bullring, which was that of Antequera, Málaga, with 300 locals as extras, although the aerial shot is of the Sevilla bullring, La Maestranza, both of which are supposed to be Valencia.
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021)
Although mostly shot in Croatia, the presence of Antonio Banderas brought about some scenes in Málaga, specifically in Hacienda Nadales, a banqueting venue, and an industrial estate building at Guadalhorce.
The Nanny’s Night (2021)
The interiors of this horror story were shot in a house in Valdemoro, with exteriors nearby in Valdetorres del Jarama, both in Madrid.
The film marks the debut of Ignacio López, a close collaborator of author and director Victor Matellano.
Send it! (2021)
A kite-boarding story of love and surf with a cameo by Richard Branson (that’s how Trump got started and you heard it here first!)
Pedro Barbadillo of the Mallorca Film Commission informed us that shooting took place in North Carolina, Texas and a day’s shooting in Mallorca on 11 July 2018 and three weeks of preparation.
The filming took place at sea and covered an area between the cathedral in Palma to Es Malgrats.
Once again Palma Pictures was the local production collaborator.
The Matador’s Cape (2022)
Martial arts expert Gary Wasniewski tries his hand at bullfighting, with filming in the bullring at Almería, and in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo.
The film is a variation on a standard theme of what to do when someone assassinates your wife.
Uncharted (2022)
First there was a Playstation game, and then came the movie.
Starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas, filming took place in October 2020 along the Costa Blanca, Alicante.
The Granadella cove was once again used, as it was in The Cold Light of Day, and so was the fishing port area of Jávea.
The Cova dels Orguens, a cave that can only be reached by sea near Cap de la Nao, also appears.
The popular, sandy Arenal beach, next to Jávea’s Parador, was employed to create an oasis, where one didn’t exist before. Presumably the popular restaurants there will be blocked out.
When brothers Nathan and Sam are arrested, they are taken to an orphanage, the Recinto Modernista de Sant Pau (Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167); a former hospital, now a museum in Barcelona.
They meet Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali), in Plaza de Carles Buigas, site of the Font Mágica de Montjuic. They talk on the roof of the Pabellón Victòria Eugènia, and they chase her past the fountain of the Plaza de las Cascadas, and then through a market situated in Plaza de Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The chase ends at her car in Plaza de las Cascadas.
Then we see Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) arguing with his father Armando (Manuel de Blas) in the Born Centro de Cultura y Memoria.
Santiago Moncada meets his father again in Plaza Gaudí in full view of the Sagrada Familia.
Nathan, Sully and Chloe stay in a flat located in Calle Sant Pere Més Alt.
They visit the church of Santa Maria del Pi. Sully and Braddock fight in Bar Pisamorena (Consolat de Mar, 37).
Secret tunnels abound and Sully talks to his friends from a sewer in Plaza Sant Felip Neri.
The action moves to the Phillipines, although the beach is in reality that of Lloret de Mar, Girona, as is the hotel. The coves at Sa Boadella and Treumal were employed, while the scenes with the boats were shot in Denia, Alicante.
For the prison scene at the end, they once again used the Recinto Modernista de Sant Pau.
After the credits we find Nathan and Sully in a bar in Havana, in reality Barcelona in the Mescladís del Pou, Calle Carders, 35.
Asteroid City (2022)
This Wes Anderson film was shot from August to October 2021 near Chinchón (Madrid), where a western-type set and a train station were built.
The golf course at Aranjuez was used for filming on September 6th.
200 local people were contracted as extras and the Chinchón Parador was sealed off for mere mortals until December 1st.
Stars such as Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Carell are in it.
Operation Mincemeat (2022)
Colin Firth stars in a remake of ‘The Man who Never Was’, which also had scenes shot in Spain, at the beach and cemetery where the corpse was washed up and buried respectively in Huelva.
However, the new version was filmed in Málaga, largely because of its busy, international airport, much to the displeasure of the people of Huelva.
The local film office informs that the locations are Málaga Town Hall, Gardens de Puerta Oscura and the San Miguel cemetery.
The Man from Rome (2022)
Set in Sevilla and Rome, a computer hacker meets a ghostly 17th century church (or something like that).
After the credits we see an aerial shot encompassing the Guadalquivir river and the bullring.
The action in Sevilla was filmed in Plaza de San Francisco, including the Town Hall, and around Plaza Nueva. The Town Hall represents the Archbishop’s palace, which Father Quart, a gun-toting far from chaste priest visits. Both the Sala del Apeadero and the Sala Capitular Baja were used.
The historic town of Carmona also appears; the Church of the Virgen de las Lágrimas, so important in the film, is in reality the 16th century Convento de la Concepción, now empty. We can see a cloister through a door at times, and at the end in an aerial view, showing us that this is a convent rather than a simple church.
The Palacio de la Motilla in calle Cuna is the home of the Bruner family. This palace will probably become a hotel in the near future.
Not all is monuments, Sevilla’s river, the Guadalquivir also features considerably, as do its bridges, Cristo de la Expiración and Triana and the Muelle (dock) de la Sal.
There are also scenes in the riverside Restaurante Abades Triana, with its views of Sevilla’s emblematic Torre de Oro. Here Quart has lunch with Macarena Bruner. When Father Ferro is kidnapped, he is held on a riverboat, and we see the well-known Luna de Triana.
Shooting also took place in Paseo de Colón, Plaza de Toros, calle Betis, Hotel Renacimiento de la Cartuja, where Quart stays and is attacked, and calle Parras.
Yet another film based on a novel by Arturo Perez-Reverte, with performances by the actor who played Conan as a boy, Jorge Sanz.
Simón Andreu plays the President of the bank that is the focus of evil in the film.
Marlowe (2022)
Philip Marlowe is not a new subject for a film, and Liam Neeson is not a newcomer to filming in Spain, but shooting Marlowe is Manresa, in the province of Barcelona is an original idea.
Accompanied by Colm Meaney and some period cars and costumes, in November 2021 the actor was to be seen filming in calle Jaume I in the Bar Restaurante Miami, which was converted into Schmidt’s Liquors in faraway Los Angeles.
In Sant Cugat, in the district known as la Floresta, a house on the carretera de Vallvidrera became Laurel Road 2900.
The house of Marlowe’s rich client was none other than the iconic garden with columns of La Gavina hotel at S’Agarò, Girona, used in films such as Nicholas and Alexandra.
Filming also took place at Capellades, Alella, Garraf, Sant Pere de Ribes, Sitges, Blanes and Terrassa, where a building belonging to the Federación Empresarial Comarcal de Terrassa was used.
Renko (2022)
Javier Bardem’s brother Carlos stars in this thriller about a Spanish secret agent and an American bounty hunter
At Valdemanco, Madrid, we can find Daryl’s house, the Di Lorenzo adventure park and some roads to Di Lorenzo adventure park, which includes scenes shot at Aranjuez, and the park bar, filmed at San Martín de Valdeiglesias, while in Segovia we encounter the Airsoft Camp and battlefield of the Di Lorenzo adventure park.
The Covenant (2022)
Filming for this Guy Ritchie movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal began in December 2021, when the production team set up in the car park of the Petrer Football Club, Alicante.
It is supposedly a true story of an Afghan interpreter who saves an American soldier, who then returns to Afghanistan to save him in turn.
Filming took place in the village of Sax, where the houses leading up to its spectacular castle served as typical Afghan dwellings.
After Sax the film moved on to Novelda, where two scenes were shot. The first consisted of a Taliban ambush of an American convoy, and in the second the Taliban search a vehicle, and in the following gunfight bodies are thrown into a river, which was in fact the Vinalopó.
The action scenes around a dam and reservoir were filmed at the Amadorio reservoir, which provides water to Villajoyosa.
Hustle (2022)
Adam Sandler returned to Mallorca, (he filmed scenes from Jack and Jill there with Al Pacino) for a story about a basketball scout who hopes he’s found a new star in Spain, although most of the film takes place in Philadelphia.
The scene where Sandler discovers Bo playing basketball in a rough neighbourhood was shot at El Rafal, while the more professional players played in the Son Moix Polideportivo.
The flat where Bo and his family live can be found at Nou Llevant.
At the beginning Sandler visits various countries looking for his star, among them Russia, where the artificial snow was in fact created at Pollença.
The scene where Sandler is offered a job at a hotel with a pool was filmed at Sa Fortalesa.
The Mother (2022)
Jennifer Lopez and Joseph Fiennes star in a film interrupted by the pandemic, where Gran Canaria represents Cuba.
Shooting took place there around Plaza Cairasco, Alameda de Colón, Gabinete Literario (a cultural centre from whose balcony Lopez and Fiennes look out and chat in happier times) and Hotel Madrid.
El Salobre, Berriel airfield, plaza de Santa Ana, Casa de Colón, La Isleta, Calle Guzmán El Bueno, the districts of San Cristóbal, La Isleta and San Juan de Las Palmas with its defensive battery, Calles Malteses and Bravo Murillo all feature.
The motorbike and stolen car chase scene took place around San Cristóbal, San Telmo park with its iconic bandstand and calle Canalejas, as well as Fataga and Meloneras
60 kilometres from the capital, at San Bartolomé de Tirajana, a luxurious villa called Monte Léon, was employed as Hector’s house, which Lopez trashes in rescuing Zoe.
And 11 kilometres away, the Marquesa Garden at Aruca, with its 2,500 species of plants from 5 continents, offered a touch of exotica, while a gulley at Artenara offers us a view of palm trees in another scene.
D is for Detroit (2022)
A young man called Tarquin, getting away from drugs and London, discovers sun, scenery and music in Ibiza, including a shot of the magical island of Es Vedra.
A Man of Action (2022)
A Spanish film, about an anarchist, Lucio Urtubia, with characters speaking English and Spanish. Most of the English is spoken by and with the man from the American bank, Mister Barrow.
Early on we see some scenes shot at Lucio’s hometown of Cascante in Navarra.
Scenes were shot in Vigo in Pontevedra province, with filming in Praza de Compostela and García Barbón. The Casa da Cultura Galega became a bank that Lucio robs.
Vigo’s port also features, as does the old barracks of the Civil Guard, as well as Plaza Estrela, the Xunta building and the pedestrian area of O Calvario and a café terrace between Rúa Montero Ríos and Rúa de Concepción Arenal.
Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña appears too, including Calle das Ameas, Praza do Obradoiro, Praza de Salvador Parga, Calle de San Francisco, Calle de Santo Agostiño and Alameda Park.
From 1 to 15 October del 2021, filming took place in Tarragona, using the Complex Educatiu, the Banco de España and the old provincial prison, located in Avenida L’Argentina.
The film was actually set in Paris, which is recognisable in the scenes where the Eiffel Tower appears.
Who Killed Che Guevara (2022)
The title speaks for itself. Figueras (Girona) was among the locations.
Planet of the Astronauts (2022)
A spoof movie (I think) about astronauts returning to a devastated Earth, post-Covid.
Among the locations they visit, searching for a remedy, is Barcelona, where we see two lovers kissing in front of the famous fountain in the Ciutadella park.
Dead Man, Don’t Die (2022)
German director (and actor here) Dirk Roche filmed most of this at the Fort Bravo township in Tabernas, Almería.
With a Budget of only 41,000 euros, the movie was shot in 18 days, with a six month interruption due to the Covid crisis.
What About Love (2023)
Starring Sharon Stone and Andy García, and with a load of Spanish actors too, the film was made in the USA, Rumania and Catalonia in October 2012.
The locations include Barcelona, Canet de Mar, Montserrat and Tossa de Mar (Girona), made famous in the 50s when Ava Gardner filmed ‘Pandora and the Flying Dutchman’ there.
Some images were also shot in Begur, Castelldefells, Gavà, El Prat de Llobregat, Jardines de Santa Clotilde in Lloret de Mar, Pals and Sitges.
Directed by Klaus Menzel, it is the story of an American Senator’s daughter who falls in love with a cinema director in Barcelona, with whom she sets off on their own road movie.
Lucas (2023)
Juan Pedro Ortega directs a film about a serial killer with footage from his native Barcelona.
Fyre Rises (2023)
A reluctant ex-mercenary is forced to return to his old ways.
Writer-Director Paul Knight informed us: “We shot in Lanzarote, in Puerto Del Carmen in early September 2022 – in and around the local town”.
American Star (2023)
Spanish director Gonzalo López-Gallego filmed this film set in Fuerteventura in Fuerteventura.
A professional assassin goes there to fulfil a contract and has to take time off due to a delay.
As American Star was a ship, wrecked near Fuerteventura in 1994, we can expect it to play a part.
Catching Dust (2023)
Four weeks of filming at Puerto del Rosario, Antigua and La Oliva on the island of Fuerteventura produced a story of white trailer trash in the desert as two couples work out their differences.
Uncancelled (2023)
It started with a wedding between Australian film maker Luke Eve and his bride María Armiñana, which was cancelled due to COVID 19.
Trapped in Valencia, they decided to make a documentary out of their experience, although it later became this feature film, a mixture of truth and fiction with some professional actors.
Their prison was Valencia, and among the locations were El Palmar, a village famous for its multiple paella restaurants, the Sueca rice fields and the Malvarrosa beach, where Sorolla used to paint and Hemingway used to imbibe.
TV Series Made in Spain
Game of Thrones
In Game of Thrones, the Alcazaba of Almería represented the castle of Sunspear, the capital of Dorne, kingdom of the Martell family. Some benches created for the series can still be seen there.
Also in Almería, Mesa Roldán castle appeared in season 6, episode 9, representing Meeren.
Driving up to the Sierra Alhamilla spa, below you to the right you see an avenue of palm trees and various abandoned buildings. The site began as a mining location and the sets were later constructed by Ridley Scott for Exodus. Later they would be employed in Game of Thrones as a Dothraki settlement, Vaes Dothrak. The series Penny Dreadful also used this location.
The Real Alcázar of Sevilla represented ‘Dorne.’
Córdoba, and specifically its long Roman bridge, was used in to represent the city of Volantis, along which Tyrion and Varys escape. In a later episode, Theon and Yara cross the bridge to take refuge in the city.
The castle at Almodovar del Rio, Córdoba represents High Garden in the 7th season, when Jamie Lannister sacks and loots the place.
Trujillo in the province of Cáceres was a location, representing Casterly Rock.
In the city of Cáceres itself, filming took place in Plaza de Santa María, Torre de Bujaco and the medieval Arco de la Estrella.
Also in the province of Guadalajara, the abandoned castle of Zafra was employed to represent The Tower of Joy in the Red Mountains of Dorne.
The castle of Santa Florentina in Canet de Mar, Barcelona was used in the 6th season to represent Horn Hill.
Medieval Girona was used to represent the city of Braavos.
The church of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, just west of Bermeo, Vizcaya, became a popular cinema tourism site after representing ‘Dragonstone.’
House of the Dragon
An inevitable spin off from Game of Thrones, this prequel to the original series explores the House of Targaryen, and uses some of the same locations, such as Cáceres, and also the frequently filmed castle of La Calahorra in Granada province, representing Pentos where Daemon and Laena Velaryon stay in episode 6.
In Cáceres filming took place in Cuesta de Aldana, and the plazas de San Jorge, Santa María and San Mateo. Santa María square was the main location for the scenes where Prince Daemon and his new, reformed Watch commit a massacre.
In episode 4, King of the Narrow Sea, Rhaenyra and Daemon see a play, which takes place at the Casa del Sol, a 15th century building in Calle de la Monja.
In October 2021 filming took place in the main square, castle and some churches in Trujillo, Cáceres, where a dragon statue replaced the usual suspect, Pizarro.
The leafy splendour of the Jardins de Santa Clotilde at Lloret de Mar, Girona was also used to represent the gardens of King’s Landing.
Once again the islet of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Vizcaya, became Dragonstone with some serious CGI. The name means Rock Castle in the Basque language, which may have induced Francis Drake to sack it in 1593, an incident repeated the following year by the Huguenots of La Rochelle, who rather churlishly killed the caretaker.
The Witcher
Filming took place in Gran Canaria of the highly successful TV series The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill, who had previously made The Cold Light of Day on the peninsular. Maspalomas, Cuevas Blancas, Tamadaba, Roque Nublo, Caldera de Tejeda, Fataga, Agaete and Guayedra, were all locations on Gran Canaria, while Garafía, Los Tilos, La Zarza, Cubo de Galga, El Paso and San Andrés y Sauces, were locations on La Palma island.
The dunes of Maspalomas represent a desert where Yennefer transports Queen Kalis and her child, trying to escape an assassin. The second transportation is to Roque Nublo, and the third to the forests of Caldera de Tejeda. Finally, Yennefer ends up alone on the beach at Guayedra.
The dry river bed of Fataga is the location along which Jaskier and Geralt travel and Jaskier sings ‘Toss a Coin to you Witcher’.
Garafia represents the location of the magicians’ academy Aretuza, situated in the series at Thanedd (Temeria). The rocks are real but the tower is a CGI creation.
Near Agaete we can find the beach of Guayedra, which is where the Brotherhood comes ashore on its way to the keep at Sodden Hill to confront the army of Nilfgaard.
Brokilon, the forest of death, is an amalgamation of three La Palma forests; Los Tilos, La Zarza and Cubo de la Galga. It is to here that Ciri flees from Cintra. When she drinks the liquid from the tree, she is transported to the dunes of Maspalomas.
At El Paso we find Los Llanos del Jable, which represent the Dragon Mountains, where the four teams go in search of a green dragon to kill. Llano de las Brujas, the viewpoint at Cumbrecita and Roque de los Muchachos, where the questers set up camp, were all used, although the dragon cave itself was situated in Hungary.
Black Mirror
Gran Canaria’s Caldera de Tejeda provided the final scene of the episode ‘Hated in the Nation’ from Season 3. At the end, like the end of Silence of the Lambs, we see the policewoman following the villain, without his bees to protect him, in what appears to be South America; or somewhere exotic.
Episode 1 of season 4 is a Star Trek spoof in which USS Callister lands on a planet which is in reality Lanzarote.
The Playa de Bermeja in Yaiza, with its black sand beaches and the red Montaña Bermeja were used, as was an abandoned quarry called Rofera de Teseguite at Teguise.
One of Spain’s most filmed petrol stations is the ‘Alfaro,’ on the Autovía A-92 Exit 376 – Tabernas. The restaurant next door, now closed, was used for the Netflix series Black Mirror to represent the Black Museum in episode 6 of season 4. The museum, supposedly located in the Australian desert, was painted black for the occasion.
The interior however, was filmed in Málaga’s old Provincial Prison at Cruz de Humilladero, now closed and a location for various films.
In season 5, episode 2, Billy Bauer, the boss of Smithereen, is located, supposedly in Furnace Valley Utah, although his glass home retreat was in reality located in the province of Granada, at Gorafe.
For season 6 the Black Mirror team returned to Málaga. The episode Red Book was filmed at Marbella, Estepona and an estate between Monda and Ojé. San Pedro Alcántara and the Loasur studios in Coín were also employed.
For an episode about an astronaut played by Josh Hartnett, his space age house can be found in La Eliana, Valencia.
The house is frequently used by film makers and publicists for its futuristic look, although it was actually built in the 70s.
Westworld
The film version of course starred Yul Brynner, who made many films in Spain, and the third season includes various Spanish locations.
The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (CAC), in Valencia, which appeared in George Clooney’s Tomorrowland, plays the hi-tech HQ of the Delos corporation, where we see Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) landing by helicopter.
Architect Ricardo Bofill, who designed the park where the CAC is located, provided his house-studio at Sant Just Desvern (Barcelona), built in an abandoned cement factory. In the series it is Engerraund Serac’s HQ. It’s here that Maeve Millay, actress Thandie Newton, regains consciousness.
In another episode she comes to in an Italian town occupied by the Nazis during World War II, although it is in fact Besalú, (Girona), where part of The Perfume was shot. Plazas Llibertat and Prat de Sant Pere were employed, as was the town’s iconic 12th century bridge.
Silent Witness
When Silent Witness, a BBC series, took the action to Afghanistan in 2012, they took a short cut and filmed in Almería.
Rambla de Buho and Rambla Roja near Tabernas were used for some desert driving scenes, the airport was the well-known Alfaro petrol station by the A92 car park, while the tarmac road was on the way to the Sierra Alhamilla.
An Orange Grove was filmed at Cortijo Concejo. The main compound was at La Galera, north of Tabernas.
The Tenerife village of Güímar has been frequently used for the BBC series Silent Witness, which began in 1996, representing a Mexican border town with the USA. Furthermore, an abandoned leper sanitorium further south at Abades has also been put to good use. Built in 1943, it was never used as such as the illness was brought under control. The Spanish army used it until 2000.
The Crown
The TV series The Crown was one of many to employ the desert of Almería, this time representing New South Wales during the visit there of Charles and Diana in season 4.
When Mark Thatcher gets lost during the Paris-Dakar rally, he is in fact more lost than you’d think, in the Finca Las Lomillas in the Tabernas desert.
What’s more, the famous red Ayer’s Rock was also filmed in Almería, with a little CGI magic, specifically in Rambla Búho.
A little less technology was used to construct the ranch in the same rambla, where Charles and Diana are reunited with their baby son William.
Unlike many sets, the ranch has been preserved, although transported to the Oasys western township.
The producers also managed to create an airport at El Toyo, in a car park next to the Hotel Barceló Cabo de Gata.
In episode 8 there is a flashback, when Princess Elizabeth gives a 21st birthday address to the Commonwealth from Cape Town. The scenes of her and her audiences were shot at Finca El Romeral, and the beaches of Genoveses and Mónsul.
In Málaga, Puerto Banús and a luxury villa at La Zagaleta appear, while the Palacio de Ferias of Torremolinos became an airport.
In the fourth season we see Charles and Diana in a parade from the Hotel AC Málaga Palacio, supposedly in Brisbane.
The Jardín Botánico represented Adelaide and the iron bridge at Cártama, seen briefly over the River Guadalhorce, was Darwin.
In the Cártama sports centre we witness a polo match and in the Monte Miramar palace the meeting with the Australian PM Bob Hawke in Canberra.
The Castañón de Mena military residence had three scenes; a meeting with swimmers at the pool, a hospital visit in Sidney and a staircase for a gala dinner, supposedly in Tasmania.
Furthermore, Jerez and San Juan de Aznalfarache portrayed Greece during its civil war, while the emblematic Hotel Alfonso XIII in Sevilla, which appears in Lawrence of Arabia, became California in the 60s for a visit by Princess Margaret.
Sevilla was used again in season 5, this time to represent Egypt, when the whole Dodi business kicks in.
During a wedding in Alexandria, as Dodi’s birth is announced, the ceremony is celebrated in the Casa de Pilatos.
The Plaza de América, and its Museo Arqueológico and Artes y Costumbres were used, as was the María Luisa park.
Charles and Diana try out a second honeymoon, including a trip to Capri, where the ruins they visit are in reality the Baelo Claudia Roman site, on the Bolonia beach near Tarifa, Cádiz.
Doctor Who
The sci-fi location of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia was used in 2017 for an episode of the legendary British series Doctor Who.
Since 1963 the time-travelling Doctor has changed identities 12 times, and was being played at the time by Peter Capaldi. In fact, the first episode was screened the day after President Kennedy’s assassination.
But Valencia was not feeling itself, as the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences complex represented Colony world Gliese 581 D, where, according to the BBC’s magazine Radio Times: “architect Santiago Calatrava…..created an opera house like a spaceship; an Imax cinema resembling a giant eye; a science museum that could be an aircraft hangar crossed with a whale skeleton; and the largest aquarium in Europe, with 45,000 living creatures of 500 different species”.
In 2019 filming also took place in Tenerife for the 12th season of the British TV series Doctor Who.
Filming took place in a pine forest near the Teide mountain and in the Auditorium de Santa Cruz. They also filmed at the Volcán del Cuervo in the Parque Natural de Los Volcanes (Lanzarote) and at the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya or La Geria.
Kill the Moon was the title of the 7th episode of the 8th season filmed on Lanzarote, near the Volcán del Cuervo, in the Parque nacional de Timanfaya.
Planet of Fire was shot at the jetty at Órzola, also on Lanzarote, this time playing itself, where Howard discusses Peri’s future with her and the Doctor looks over the treasure found underwater.
At the Mirador del Rio, Timanov and Malkon speak about the unbelievers. This old gun battery was converted into a restaurant by Cesar Manrique. Filming also took place at the Papagayo beach, where Peri is brought ashore after a swimming accident.
When Jodie Whittaker took over from Capaldi some filming took place in Granada province, specifically around Aldeire, Alquife, and La Calahorra. This was episode 6 of Season 11 and Granada represented the Punjab in an episode entitled Demons of the Punjab, with the snowy peaks of Sierra Nevada once again standing in for The Himalayas.
The episode The Two Doctors, screened in 1985, was filmed all over Sevilla.
Locations included La Finca La Caprichosa, the River Guadiamar, Plaza del Triunfo, Calle Joaquin Romero Murube, Calle Rodrigo Caro, Plaza de la Alianza and Plaza Doña Elvira among others.
The 2012 episode A Town Called Mercy made use of both the Oasys and Fort Bravo western township parks in Almería.
While filming in Almería, the production team slipped next door to the Sierra Nevada mountain’s, the peninsula’s highest, to shoot the snow scenes for the episode Asylum of the Daleks.
Berlin Station
The Canary island La Palma features in the TV series Berlin Station, representing Panama.
When Meyer enters the Panamanian jungle in the first episode looking for a box, he is in fact at Los Tilos, with its spectacular waterfall.
Later, scenes in a typical Panamanian street market were filmed in Avenida El Puente de Santa Cruz.
Some beach bar scenes were shot at Playa de la Bombilla at Tazacorte.
Fuerteventura also appears in the series specifically at Hotel Oliva Beach and Finca Cervantes at Lajares.
White Lines
The TV series White Lines is the story of a DJ called Axel, whose death is investigated by his sister Zoe.
But first we go to Almería, where Axel’s body is unearthed after a storm, and Zoe talks to the police at the Fort Bravo western theme park at Tabernas.
A lot of the filming was done on Mallorca, including the scene in the first episode when Marcus meets a mafia boss in Bar Restaurant Illeta, located at Camp De Mar beach near Andratx. Marcus’s villa is in reality Can Pirata at Cala D’Or.
The orgy scene in the first episode was filmed at S’Estaca, a villa that had belonged to actor Michael Douglas.
The Calafat finca was Son Oliver, a villa in the Coanegra Valley near Santa Maria del Camí, although scenes from the villa’s chapel (where the dog’s funeral is held) and courtyard were actually filmed at the Biniagual vineyard at Binissalem.
The Calafat foundation’s residential home, where Conchita Calafat tries to enlist the support of a priest for her plans, is El Rafal dels Porcs at Es Llombards.
From Almería, Zoe takes a ferry to Ibiza and gives us a good view of the capital with its castle and harbour seen both from below and above. Most of the film’s flashbacks are of Ibiza in the 90s, including Axel’s favourite spot, the watchtower Torre d’en Rovira at Sant Josep de sa Talaia with views of the islands of Des Bosc and Sa Conillera. It is here that Kika takes Zoe to talk about her relationship with Axel. We also see him staring out at the iconic island of Es Vedra in the first episode.
In episode 2, Marcus meets the Romanian drug dealers at Port Esportiu Marina d’Eivissa, with Dalt Vila, the city’s walled city in the background.
Oriol tortures Cristobal at Ses Salines salt lakes on Ibiza.
Scenes were shot at Portocolom with its iconic black and white lighthouse and the religious procession in episode six was filmed there, ending in the harbour at Cala Figuera. The lighthouse is clearly visible behind Kika as she sits on a bench waiting for Zoe.
Homage is paid to Sergio Leone twice. When they are in Fort Bravo, the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is mentioned, and in the Calafat mansion there is a poster from the film A Few Dollars More.
Emerald City
In the TV series Emerald City, the Wizard of Oz is to be found in Barcelona’s Parc Güell,
whereas the Wicked Witch of the East makes do with the often used castle of La Calahorra in Granada province, and in the same province, the cave dwellings of Guadix, Granada get a reprise in episode 2.
In Almería, Cabo de Gata provides one of its many beautiful beaches, and the inevitable desert of Tabernas, features, as does Sevilla’s one model suits all Alcázar royal palace. Within the Alcázar we can find the baths of Doña María de Padilla, which is where young Dorothy goes to get purified.
In Málaga province, El Torcal Natural Park, near Antequera lays on a yellow brick road for Dorothy.
The Spanish Princess
An American series The Spanish Princess takes its turn at butchering history, telling a version of the story of Catherine of Aragon.
Although the opening shot shows the Alhambra of Granada, when we go inside to meet Catherine, we are in the Real Alcázar of Sevilla with good use made of the gardens, as well as the Salón de Embajadores, the Cuarto Alto, the Patio de las Doncellas, the baths of Doña María Padilla and the Pavilion of Carlos V.
When Isabel, the warrior Queen escorts Catherine towards the boat for England, they are attacked by Moors in the Tabernas desert of Almería.
Hanna
The Amazon series Hanna chose Almería for some of its locations, starting with the capital’s old railway station, in front of which a French flag flew to prove that Hanna had reached France, and where she takes on a bunch of villains. At the port, with scenes incorporating a Trasmediterránea ferry, Hanna and Sophie’s family travel from Morocco to Spain.
In the Tabernas desert, Hanna finds Sophie, and the Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Níjar also features.
The series also used some well-known locations from the city of Barcelona. Sandy arrives in a taxi at the arcaded Plaça Reial, while her classes are in the 19th century Universitat de Barcelona through whose cloister we see her stroll.
Parque de la Ciutadella is where Kat meets her father at the monumental fountain, Plaça del Pi is where we see Sandy playing the piano and La Monumental bullring is where Hanna meets up with Clem.
Robert and Kat have lunch in the Carballeria restaurant (Reina Cristina, 3).
In the Biblioteca de Lletres CRAI of the University of Barcelona Clem tries to contact her mother by e mail.
The nightclub that Kat and Sandy visit is the Club Opium in the Barceloneta district, while the offices of El Periódico de Catalunya newspaper are where the journalist Alba works.
Furthermore, the rooftop swimming pool of the Hotel Ohla in Via Laietana was used for the scene where Sandy sunbathes with Kat, and another Barcelona hotel, The Metro Plaza, where the lawyer Robert Gelder stays, is in fact the Almanac Barcelona in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, although the Mandarin Oriental, and Majestic hotels were also used for some scenes.
The luxury modern villa where Clem and Hanna hide, and where there is a shoot out, is above Barcelona in the Tibidabo area.
In episode 7 Marissa is rescued in a desolate landscape, which can be found in the province of Zaragoza in Los Monegros, specifically at La Almolda.
Killing Eve
The series Killing Eve features a serial killer, and in the third season Jodie Comer (Villanelle) visits Barcelona.
Her wedding in episode 1, Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey, is not a happy occasion and takes place in fact in Sevilla, where the exteriors were provided by the 14th century Castillo de la Monclova, situated to the east of Sevilla.
Villanelle’s first whacking of the season takes place in a spice shop, with exteriors located in Carrer d’en Mònec, Barcelona.
Episode 2, Management Sucks, begins with Villanelle walking past the Arco del Triunfo.
Villanelle’s apartment in Barcelona is the modernist Casa Ramos in Plaça de Lesseps, 31, while the clown party takes place in San Andrés de Llavaneras, in Casa Paradiso.
When we see Villanelle and Dasha having breakfast in a square, they are in Plaça de la Barceloneta.
When Villanelle is sent on a mission to France, she is in fact still in the province of Barcelona, at Sitges, at the marina.
In episode 3, Meetings Have Biscuits we see a beautiful view of the Alhambra palace in Granada, although when Villanelle pursues her next victims there, the shooting takes place back in Barcelona province at the Castell de Godmar.
The One
One series filmed in Tenerife was Netflix’s The One, a science fiction story about DNA with the series opening at the Auditorio de Tenerife designed by Santiago Calatrava, where Rebecca gives a conference explaining her project to find people their perfect partner and in the biology laboratories of the Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias at the Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), where Rebecca and James work.
The coast at Granadilla de Abona also features and, when Rebecca and James go looking for her own personal match, they hire a car and drive along the road that connects La Tejita and El Médano, to reach a water sports centre, which is in reality the Surf Center Playa Sur (C/ La Gaviota).
In the same street is the Hotel Playa Sur Tenerife, where Rebecca stays.
Rebecca also goes for a beer at Manfred’s Soul Café, Avenida José Miguel Galván Bello, 10, where she meets Matheus and his brother Fabio.
In Apartamentos Bahía (Carretera de Los Roques), on the coast at Fasnia, Rebecca and Matheus discuss going to live in the UK.
On the black sandy beach at Anaga, Matheus and Fabio argue about going to live in the UK.
The scene, supposedly in London, when Fabio blackmails Rebecca, was actually shot at the Iberostar Heritage Grand Mencey Hotel, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Calle José Naveiras, 38).
Soulmates
With a basic idea similar to the series The One, Soulmates was filmed in and around Madrid, representing places as diverse as Los Angeles, New York and Mexico.
In the episode Soul Connex, the testing clinic was the Clínica Dermatológica Internacional in calle Marqués de Villamagna.
The residential estate, Monteclaro de Pozuelo in Alarcón and the Santo Domingo one in Algete were used, as was The Magic Forest children’s park in the Ciudad de la Imagen, as well as The American Dream and El Gallinero restaurants in Collado Villalba.
In the second episode filming took place in the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, specifically in the Facultad de Medicina, Pabellón 8 and the Sala de Juntas as well as the Facultad de Derecho. The Colegio Mayor Mendel also appears, as does the WeCollect Club, in calle Conde de Aranda.
Other locations include Restaurante Paolo in calle del Maestro Ángel Llorca in Vallehermoso, Home Burguer Bar in calle de Silva in the capital, Madrid, Hotel Los Olivos in Getafe and Hotel Pax in Torrelodones. The finca La Granjilla near El Escorial also appears.
Episode 3 takes us to the USA, although we are in fact near Paseo de la Castellana, and Impact Hub Picasso also provides locations. Faborit de Torre Europa, Sala Equis and the La Neomudéjar arts centre also appear.
In episode 4 we visit Mexico, using calle de Cormorán in the Pueblo Nuevo district, La Estación de Pitis in Fuencarral-El Pardo and Hotel Hilton Madrid Aeropuerto.
Outside the capital, San Martín de la Vega, Navalcarnero and Aranjuez appear, and some images were also filmed in Málaga.
Episode 5 takes us to San Martín de la Vega and Daganzo de Arriba, as well as Casa Villa Marista San José in Los Molinos in the Guadarrama mountains.
Back in Madrid we see Restaurante Casa Mono in calle Tutor and the Clínica Sanzmar in calle del Buen Suceso as well as ETSIT in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
The last episode takes us to New York. The district of Arganzuela saw filming in calles Juan Duque and Moreno Nieto.
The Cafetería HD in calle de Guzmán el Bueno, Restaurante Chifa in calle de Modesto Lafuente and La Noche Club in calle de Segovia also saw action, as did Alcalá de Henares and San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
Warrior Nun
A simple tale (in 10 episodes) of an order of nuns who fight demons. As they damn well should!
Saint Michael’s orphanage was established in the Cultural Center La Térmica, Av. de los Guindos, Málaga, where Ava’s story begins. However, the orphanage church exterior was the Encarnación in Marbella, while the interior was the San Juan de Dios church in Antequera.
The old prison, the Antigua Prision Provincial de Malaga, Av. de José Ortega y Gasset, 24, provided a disco scene in a prison.
The castle at Almodóvar del Río, Córdoba, appears again, as it did in Game of Thrones, this time as a castle in Areala of Córdoba’s flashback scenes.
In Antequera the Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María La Mayor was another province of Málaga location, as was the Church of San Juan de Dios, where Ava and Mary sleep on pews. The Order of the Cruciform Sword has its headquarters in the Real Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor perched on a hill above the town.
The Marbella Club Hotel, Av. Bulevar Príncipe Alfonso de Hohenlohe, appears as a luxury chalet with some beach and pier scenes with Ava and JC.
The mountainous Torcal de Antequera provided a quarry where Shotgun Mary speaks to a mercenary and where Mary and Ava trek towards Ronda. Ronda’s bridge over the famous gorge stands out and when Mary and Ava arrive there and hear that the Pope is dying.
They stop for a meal at the Caserío de San Benito, a restaurant next to the Málaga motorway near Antequera.
The twin churches that are supposed to be in the same town are in fact Portichuelo Chapel and the Santa María de Jesús church in Plaza Portichuelo, Antequera.
In the capital of Málaga the University of Malaga provided the headquarters of the Arqtech company in the Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture.
The Vatican is represented by Malaga´s Cathedral, which appears during the Papal conclave. From a window in the Vatican we see Málaga’s Roman theatre in front of the Arab castle.
The Museo de Málaga (previously the Custom’s House) provided the Vatican’s arched corridors.
The Baños de María de Padilla in the Real Alcázar of Sevilla are also part of the Vatican, specifically the Vatican Grottoes, where the nuns search for Adriel’s tomb, while St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican was not far away in the Real Fábrica de Tobacos, now the Rectorado of the University, where the final battle takes place in the cloister at the end of season 1.
If season one was shot in Andalucía, most of season two was filmed in and around Madrid.
The action opens in Switzerland, although we are in fact in Madrid’s ski resort, Navacerrada. Even the bar where Ava works, La Vasseur in the series, is in reality El Portillón.
The action then moves to the famous double cloister of the Hospital Tavera in Toledo, where we see a group of nuns speaking. Among the films made here are The Three Musketeers by Richard Lester and The Promise.
Quinta de Mirabel near Toledo provides the large estate where Jillian tries to straighten out the arc, the portal to ‘the other side’.
In episode two we meet our villain, Adriel, who moves in mysterious ways around the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian monument reconstructed in Madrid’s Parque de la Montaña.
Adriel’s lair is the 13th century Moorish palace of Galiana, on the outskirts of Toledo.
His new cathedral is the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute in Madrid, which looks appropriately like a crown of thorns.
In episode 3, after Father Vicent attacks the nuns, we see the Cine Dore in calle Santa Isabel, 3, the façade of which dates back to 1923.
A lot of action also takes place in El Prado museum, where the nuns seek the crown of thorns.
Episode 4 also sees action in El Prado and the Cine Dore is burnt down.
There are also a few encounters of a futuristic footbridge, which is the Arganzuela in Madrid, designed in 2010 by Dominique Perrault.
A fight with members of Adriel’s cult takes place in the Almudena cemetery.
When the Pope organises a conclave in Madrid, which turns into a bloodbath worthy of The Godfather, his choice is the modern Princesa Plaza hotel complex in calle de la Princesa 40. This time the Vatican scenes were shot in Madrid’s Escorial palace and in the Casa de América.
Another multiple use Madrid location was the Palacete de la Trinidad, built in 1928, in calle Francisco Silvela, which was the home of Lilith, a hospital and the flat in Rome of Yasmine.
Season two ends with a long shot of the monastery of Uclés, Cuenca, where Richard Lester filmed The Four Musketeers.
The last scene is the monastery’s courtyard, as Beatrice leaves her sisters, no doubt preparing the ground for season three.
Wheel of Time
White smoke is good and black smoke is bad in what is another version of the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings type of saga.
Opening episode 4, the city of Ghealdan is represented by Segovia, and specifically, as usual, its spectacular castle, the Alcázar. Some impressive aerial views show the castle and the city in flames as a battle takes place between the false Reborn Dragon and the King of Ghealdan, culminating in a scene on the Terraza del Pozo, on the battlements.
The final scene at the end of season 1 was shot at Benijo beach, Tenerife. Here we see an invading (presumably) navy sending a tidal wave against the beach where a little girl is to be seen. A question of breaking a butterfly on a wheel perhaps.
Foundation
Asimov’s masterpiece was filmed all over Europe, including Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, where the village of Tuineje was the focal point, as well as Caldera de Los Arrabales and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Some scenes were shot at Hotel Mencey and the Trade Fair building.
For episode 8, The Missing Piece, the action crosses the water to Lanzarote, where we visit the ‘lava tube’, a cave created by volcanic action in La Cueva de los Verdes, the green cave located in the municipality of Haría.
The Mallorca Files
British and German police officers team up to solve crimes in Mallorca. All highly believable as it’s a BBC production.
The first episode of season 1 focuses on Palma airport and later moves to the Ses Cases del Virrey hotel near Inca.
Max and Miranda track down a gunman and a corrupt policeman to a lighthouse on the cliffs, which is the 19th century Far de Cap Blanc lighthouse. Afterwards we see some views of the capital Palma, including the hilltop Bellver castle.
A lot of action takes place in Palma’s old town, including the Moltabarra Bar which poses as Joan’s Bar.
In episode 2 a famous cyclist disappears at the end of a tunnel, which is at Puigmayor, overlooking the Gorg Blau reservoir.
The headquarters of the race competition is located in front of Palma’s gothic cathedral, the building of which started in the 13th century.
When Esteban the famous cyclist is found, he is placed in the Joan March hospital.
At the end of episode 2 Miranda and Max race each other on bikes at Sa Calobra.
Episode 3, about a stolen icon, was filmed in the Església de Monti-Sión de Palma, and especially in its cloister.
Episode 4 portrays Mallorca’s famous train, which runs between Sollér and Palma, and also features in the film Cloud Atlas.
In episode 5 a dog dies in a vineyard, with shooting at Bodegas Oliver Morgagues and Bodegas Ribas, representing the fictional Bodegas Negra.
This episode gives us yet another opportunity to see the omnipresent Spanish actor Simón Andreu, this time acting in his native Mallorca and playing the role of wine-maker Emilio Byass, shotgun in hand.
The luxury villa in episode 6 is Sol de Mallorca, just south of Magaluf.
In episode 7 a DJ is the focus of the investigation, and the nightclub used was Tito’s. The cemetery that features is Palma’s.
Episode 8 focuses on bullfighting, and was largely shot in the town of Felanitx, using the town’s bullring and church to represent the fictional village of Cazador.
In season 2, episode 1 features an opera concert in the famous Caves of Drach in Porto Cristo. The theatre scenes were filmed in the Teatre Principal de Palma, in Placa Major.
The drowning sequence took place at Cala Anguila in Porto Cristo Novo.
The Tanatorium is Bon Sec.
Episode 2 features the hairpin bends at Sa Calobra. The Gris family home was the Gran Son Net hotel, and there are flashbacks to the Civil War showing the Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles church, in Sineu with its winged lion statue, and where the private detective confesses.
Episode 3 sees a food critic murdered, and the restaurant used was the Gran Hotel Son Net in Puigpunyent.
In Pollensa 365 Calvari Steps leading up to a chapel feature in a chase scene.
Episode 4 deals with a football star and filming took place in the Real Mallorca FC, the Estadi Son Moix.
Episode 5 focuses on bird-watching, especially at the Paraiso Parque Natural. Filming also took place in Es Salobrair de Campos, a wetlands area near Es Trenc.
Puerto Pollensa also appears.
In episode 6 we see some mean riding at Rancho Grande Park (Son Serra de Marina), near Can Picafort.
The manhunt sequences were filmed in the Serra Tramuntara mountain and Puig de Masanella mountain.
Penny Dreadful
Juan Antonio Bayona directed some episodes, and in the third season the series came to Spain, using the set created by Ridley Scott for Exodus at El Chorillo at the foot of the Sierra Alhamilla and the Fort Bravo western township, Almería.
Years and Years
This dystopian vision of Britain, incorporating contemporary themes such as Brexit, included some shots of demonstrations in the streets of Barcelona and aerial views of Madrid.
Rosemary and Thyme
Miss Marple, Poirot and Father Brown are people no sane person would invite for a cup of tea, knowing that when any of them turn up, murder most foul will be committed.
Much the same can be said for Rosemary and Thyme, two female gardeners with a knack for finding bodies in the sod.
In the third season there were two visits to the Costa del Sol. In episode 4, Agua Cadaver, an old Moorish garden on the Costa del Sol is their hunting ground, and the episode begins with a tour of the gardens of Málaga’s Alcazaba palace.
In episode 7, Thyme’s son Matthew is playing in a tennis tournament in an episode which opens with a visit to the bullring at Mijas, Málaga, which we are told is the smallest in Spain, built in 1900, and with a nice view of the village, and with the church of Inmaculada Concepción looming behind it.
The tennis scenes were shot at the Lew Hoad Tennis Club, Fuengirola.
Thanks to José María Burgos for his help in identifying these episodes.
Eastenders
Or Coronation Street South as it’s also known.
In the double episode, Peggy and Frank in Spain from 2002, Peggy goes to the Costa del Sol expecting to attend con-man Frank’s funeral.
We see her arriving at Torremolinos, Málaga, and checking in to the Hotel El Pozo, and later we see her in Marbella.
Thanks again to José María Burgos for his help in identifying these episodes.
El C.I.D.
The title of this three season 1990s series does not refer to the medieval knight, but to a boat bought by a couple of ex-police officers who look for the good life in Spain, but end up chasing crooks as usual.
Local expert José María Burgos informed us that most of the filming took place around Fuengirola (especially the marina and Bar Lineker), the Teatro Salon Varietes, as well as Marbella and Mijas, all in the province of Málaga.
The series features stalwart Spanish actor Simón Andreu as a local detective.
The Love Boat
This American series was very popular in the 70s and 80s. Episode 242 featured Barcelona, where we see the cruise liner in the port, along with Columbus’s Santa María, which sank in 1991.
The episode is a tour de force of the city featuring the Sardana statue, the National Art Museum of Cataluña, Gaudí’s dragon statue in Park Güell, Montjuïc, Plaza Cataluña, the Ramblas when they still sold birds in cages and flowers and you could walk along without tripping over a clutter of human statues, and of course Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral.
At the end of the episode we see some flamenco dancers outside a bar in C/ los Caños. This is in Mijas, Málaga.
In From the Cold
Madrid is the main location for a series that focuses on spies, mind control and a mother’s love for her daughter.
In the first episode we witness three acts of seemingly inexplicable violence, the third of which takes place in the Plaza Mayor, where a woman stabs a mother and tries to steal her baby.
Our heroine Jenny arrives with her daughter Rebecca for a skating competition and we see some iconic Madrid landmarks such as the crystal palace in El Retiro park and Atocha station, followed by Plaza Cibeles and the Puerta de Alcalá.
The scenes representing the Moscow underground during Jenny’s flashbacks were in fact shot at Madrid’s old Antigua Estación de Chamberí, now a museum.
The scenes where Jenny breaks into a prison and then morphs were filmed at the barracks of USAC Primo de Rivera, Rotonda Brigada Paracaidista, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid.
The ice skating took place at the Pista de Hielo Valdemoro.
In episode two, a bloody wedding, supposedly celebrated in Zaragoza, was in fact filmed in and around the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Brunete, while Jenny tracks down the blushing bride at the Cementerio de la Almudena.
In episode 3, still in the cemetery, Jenny fights an assailant among the tombs.
Chauncey meets a contact by the El Retiro lake.
Jenny, in her Chinese morph, scores some drugs from Ramón and Diego in front of the Café Moderno in Plaza de las Comendadoras.
In episode 4 we see the skaters jogging in El Retiro park, and also there, Chauncey meets his Europol nemesis among the statues of the Alfonso XII monument.
In episode 7, Andrés phones his brother Felipe from a balcony overlooking Las Ventas bullring.
The leaning Torres Kio, a landmark in Madrid’s Plaza de Castilla, appear here and on other occasions.
The attempted assassination of the Prime Minister takes place where it is supposed to, in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, and in the last episode, the Madrid Arena and the rooftop of the Centro Colón also play themselves for the ice skating championship and the final meeting between Jenny and Svetlana respectively.
La Fortuna
Alejandro Almenábar turned to TV to make this six part series about 19th century treasure and 21st century ownership, with international actors such as Stanley Tucci.
With its maritime theme, ports proliferate, such as Ría de La Graña, El Ferrol, La Coruña, La Linea de la Concepción, Algeciras (including the Playa del Rinconcillo, where Manolo Solo’s character lives) and the Rota navy base, Cádiz as well as Pasajes, Guipúzcoa, where part of the naval battle between the British and Spanish took place, with additional sea scenes between the ports of San Sebastián and Fuenterrabía, while the underwater scenes were shot in the swimming pools of the Club Deportivo Martiartu in Erandio (Gipuzkoa).
Back on dry land, shooting took place at Madrid, in the Palace of Moncloa and the Ministry of Culture, Plaza del Rey, while various buildings performed alternative functions: the Instituto Cervantes was the Banco de España, the Ministries of Transición Ecológica and Trabajo (which provided the courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia) and the Archivo Nacional performed as the Ministerio de Cultura), Delegación del Gobierno was the Spanish embassy in Washington and the Centro Cultural de los Ejércitos impersonated the Archivo Histórico de la Marina.
Madrid also provided some American locations. Madrid Arena showed us the interiors of the Atlantis Corporation HQ, Madrid, Getafe provided the Hotel Los Olivos, Cercedilla was the location of a traffic accident, Mejorada del Campo for a car chase, and Valdemorillo, where the lawyer played by Clarke Peters had his house.
There is also a night time meeting between Álvaro Mel and Karra Elejalde at the frequently filmed lake in El Retiro park, and a military parade of the Guardia Civil and army in the Paseo de la Castellana.
The airforce base at Torrejón de Ardoz was used as was the old American base at Zaragoza airport.
Filming also took place in Guadalajara, acting as the HQ of the Atlantis Corporation.
Little Birds
Set in Tangier in 1955, the series, based on the erotica of Anais Nin, was actually shot in Tarifa, Cádiz.
Rossy de Palma, one of Almodóvar’s favourite actresses appears, as does the city of Algeciras.
The Head
The Head is a drama set at the South Pole (Iceland in fact) and tells the story of mysterious disappearances from the Polaris VI research station, built to scale in unlikely Tenerife.
Snatch
Harry Potter’s friend Rupert Grint changes role and becomes an English gangster, who in the second season finds himself and his cohorts in Spain.
All the filming took place in Málaga province, and local journalist Paco Griñán pointed out that Vélez Málaga was one of the main locations, with a bar called Torre del Mar in fictitious San Toledo being the gang’s main hangout.
Málaga’s port and Marbella’s Town Hall also feature, as do Paseo de la Farola, La Malagueta, Pinares de San Antón, Rincón de la Victoria and Mijas.
In episode 5 of the second season, Simón Andreu plays the part of Federico.
Utopia Planitia
This American series about the colonisation of Mars took a right turn when an episode called Zartaginetik was filmed in the abandoned flour factory, now a protected building, Grandes Molinos Vascos situated in Zorroza, near Bilbao, Vizcaya. The building represents the ESA shipyards in the series.
The Bounty Hunters
A comedy series about an odd couple fighting crime.
In the first season, in episode 6, Las Canteras (quarries) of Osuna, Sevilla was chosen to represent Mexico, with additional filming in the local sports centre and the Veracruz neighbourhood.
In the second season they filmed in Almería, specifically in the Pescadería district, also representing Mexico. Further filming took place in Tabernas and Huercal Overa.
Genius: Picasso
Two Spanish cities associated with Picasso are Málaga and Barcelona.
Filming in the former took place in the bullring and the church of Santiago, where he was baptised.
La Misericordia beach substituted for the French Costa Azul.
In Barcelona province filming took place in the old Universitat de Barcelona building, the Arc de Triomf, the Arc de la Ciutadella and Llotja de Mar, as well as the Torreta district and in Davallada, as well as Sitges.
Top Boy
In the second season of this modern gangster series, some of the action moves from the UK to Spain and Morocco as the gangs try to secure the supply lines of their ‘food’.
Cádiz was the scene of much shooting, in Plaza Pinto, where Spanish actor Hugo Silva participated, the children’s playground in front of the La Salle-Viña school, with interiors shot in the Instituto de Fomento, Empleo y Formación, Avenida Cuesta de las Calesas, 39.
The beach scenes included Barbate, Conil de la Frontera and Roche.
The Spanish connection continues with Jamie travelling there and discovering the amazing beaches at locations such as Los Caños de Meca.
When Sully follows him out there they kill three corrupt policemen underneath Cádiz’s emblematic bridge ‘De La Constitución de 1812’.
The Man who Fell to Earth
This remake of the 70s film that starred David Bowie as the alien, has its 10 episodes all taking names from his songs.
Some of the action is set in New Mexico, which was actually filmed in Almería, using the Lawrence of Arabia oasis site at Rambla Viciana and the Oasys township near Tabernas.
Cast and crew stayed at the Hotel Cortijo El Paraiso, Níjar.
Jack Ryan
For the 4th season of the series, the action moved to Gran Canaria, where La Aldea de San Nicolás was a location; specifically the Rúben Díaz park, the harbour and beach. Castillo del Romeral, in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, was another spot chosen.
Shooting (of both kinds) also took place on Tenerife.
Inventing Anna
Based on a true story, as they say, of a con-woman who at one point, in episode 2, flies to Ibiza to con a millionaire, with some nice aerial views of the capital Eivissa and some beaches.
That Dirty Black Bag
A new series with some new takes on old western themes. Largely shot around Tabernas, Almería and with two western townships, both Oasys-Mini Hollywood and Fort Bravo-Texas Hollywood, representing the town of Greenvale.
Ridley Scott’s Exodus enclave at El Chorrillo, Pechina, was also employed, as was Mazarrón, Murcia.
The Diplomat
The Diplomat is a new 6 part series set in Barcelona.
It follows the adventures of Sophie Rundle who works in the British Consulate.
No Return
Once again (as in Midnight Express) Turkey gets the blame although Spain gets the money as, due to the pandemic, the tale of a young boy on holiday with Mum and Dad who gets accused of a sex crime in Turkey, was mostly filmed around Nerja, Málaga.
Filming took place in Benalmádena and at the Calahonda beach.
The 4 part series was shot in September 2021 and was shown on ITV. In the city of Málaga some scenes were shot at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos, the cruise ship terminal and the Hotel Sol Melia Guadalmar.
There were also scenes shot in Vera, Almería, where Jack Nicholson met his end in The Passenger.
The Lazarus Project
Not to be confused with a film of the same name, the first season of this time travel/end of the world series includes scenes shot in Barcelona.
Other scenes were shot in Tenerife, including the Marina del Sur, Puerto Deportivo Las Galletas.
American Odyssey
El Prat de Llobregat and Plaça Reial, both in Barcelona, appear in episode 13 of this series about conspiracies.
Any Human Heart
This 4 episode drama includes such characters as The Duke of Windsor, Ian Fleming and Hemingway.
It is in Barcelona that Hemingway convinces Logan Mountstuart to go to the front and participate in the Spanish Civil War.
Among the Barcelona locations are Plaça Sant Felip Neri, Port Olímpic, Parc de Pedralbes and Palau Reial, as well as Girona.
Blindspot
The 6th episode of the third season called ‘Adoring Suspect’ takes us to Barcelona.
The series turns on a woman with amnesia and meaningful tattoos.
The Moll de les Drassanes docks appear when Roman phones Weller about a tattoo.
Roman has a meeting with a villain to get information about Crawford in the Gothic quarter in Carrer del Bisbe with its famous bridge over the street.
Hotel Ayre Rosselló’s rooftop bar is the location of Roman’s meeting with Crawford.
The emblematic fountains of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya provide the backdrop as Roman and Crawford discuss wine and someone tries to rob her.
The Hotel Ohla provides Crawford’s penthouse.
Covert Affairs
Episode 2 of season 3 takes the unlikely CIA couple to Barcelona, playing itself.
A deadly computer virus is their target, but much more interesting are the Gothic district, Parque Güell and the Ciutadela park.
Kaos
Domingo Lizcano worked on this series and told me it had been filmed in Madrid and Málaga. Filming has also taken place in Cádiz and Jeréz. One location was the disco Mucho Teatro in Puerto de Santa María.
Hugh Grant plays Zeus (who else?) in an epic parody on the ways and wars of Gods and Men. Eventually Grant was replaced by Jeff Goldblum.
Filming has taken place in Marbella, and in the city of Málaga in calle Parras. It is here, beside a basketball court that Nabhaan Rizwan takes of phone call from a public phone (don’t rush to use it, it’s a prop), although the nearby Centro Cultural Provincial MVA is real enough.
Aided by Fresco Films, who collaborated on Warrior Nun, it is not surprising that they used some of the same locations, such as the palace of Galiana, a 13th century Moorish style building near Toledo.
Sevilla provides another iconic landmark, the Plaza de España, made famous by Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars shooting.
Also in Sevilla province, the Torre del Águila reservoir at Utrera saw some action.
Mrs Davis
At times we must have all felt like a nun taking on technology with nothing but a little faith; and that is what this series, due for release on Peacock in 2023, is all about.
In November 2022, while visiting the castle of Sant Ferran in Figueras, Girona, we came across filming taking place in the moat and other locations in the castle, which had also seen filming of The Promise and The Perfume.
Vampire Academy
Vampires never die, they just fade into twilight, and the half human, half vampire concept continues in this series, filmed largely in Navarra, and specifically at Palacio Real de Olite (the vampire queen’s abode), Monasterio de Irache and Bodegas Otazu.
Filming took place between September 2021 and March 2022, and shooting also occurred in Ujué and the Señorío de Beraiz estate, as well as the Alfonso XII fortification, built during the 1872-1876 Carlist War on mount San Cristóbal at Ezcaba, near Pamplona.
In Viana, they made use of the spooky ruins of the church of San Pedro.
In the episode ‘Ascension’, filming took place in Zaragoza, at the Palacio de la Aljafería, which is the parliament of Aragon, and the library of the Paraninfo de la Universidad de Zaragoza.
Simón Andreu makes an appearance as the Queen’s herald, Clarence.
Queen of the South
Marbella is one of the stars of the Queen of the South series written by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
After her escape to Spain, drug queen Teresa continues her adventures at El Puerto Marina la Bajadilla, la Playa del Marbella Club, la Plaza de la Iglesia, la Playa del Faro and Puerto Banús. All in Málaga province.
Other scenes were shot in Melilla, Gibraltar and Madrid.
Land of Women
Eva Longoria is the star of a series based on a book by Sandra Barnada, whose hometown of Vilanova de la Muga, Girona, is one of the locations.
A woman (Eva), her daughter and mother (played by veteran Spanish actress Carmen Maura) have to leave the U.S. after a scandal involving Eva’s husband, and return to her mother’s village.
Dark Justice
Dark Justice is believed to be the first series shot totally in Spain, or at least the first season was.
Barcelona was in fashion in 1992 because of the Olympics, and so it was there that this story of a judge who seeks revenge outside and beyond the system takes place.
And yet, all the action takes place in California! Studio work was undertaken in Maresme, near Barcelona, and the city’s main post office became the California Supreme Court.
Costa del Garraf represented the cliffs of Malibu, while the Tibidabo amusement park impersonated the Hollywood hills.
The English
Although set in Kansas and Wyoming, like the Quixote, The English was filmed in some places in La Mancha.
An area known as La Mesa, near Tembleque (famous for its windmills) in Toledo province, was one such place, while others included Campo Azálvaro, open range country near El Espinar in Segovia province.
As there’s not a lot of 19th century American architecture in the area, a number of buildings were constructed.
The crew, including actress Emily Blunt, stayed at the Hotel Segovia Sierra de Los Ángeles and the Hotel Náyade.
The White Princess
On 28th October 2016 some scenes from the series were filmed for episode 6 at the Alcázar palace in Sevilla, although purporting to be La Alhambra of Granada.
Here we see Rossy de Palma as Queen Isabel meeting King Henry VII of England to discuss the arrangements for the marriage between Prince Arthur and Princess Catherine.
All in the Game
This 90s soccer series, created partly by Gary Lineker, who also has a cameo, is about an English footballer who is signed by Barcelona FC.
Simón Andreu plays Roberto Gámez, surprising nobody with his participation.
A Town Called Malice
Some British criminals get in a jam and move their business to Spain, with filming taking place on Tenerife, although it’s supposed to be the Costa del Sol in the 80s.
Among the locations for this 8 part series was La Playa de las Teresitas.
Palomino
We’ve all had the experience, British teacher in Spain caught in a robbery.
Palomino is the town, not the horse, although this 8 episode Netflix series was actually shot mostly in Sitges, Barcelona, specifically at Baluard Vidal I Quadres and calle Santiago Rusiñol, as well as San Pere de Ribes.
The Rat Patrol
This 60s TV series was at one point condensed into a feature film, Massacre Harbour, and consists of four commandoes in North Africa causing havoc amongst Rommel’s desert rats.
A lot of it was shot in the USA, but among the locations in Almería are the desert of Tabernas, Cabo de Gata, San José, Roquetas de Mar, Carboneras, Mojácar and La Alcazaba castle.
If you walk north along the beach out of the city of Almería, you will come to a bunker that was used for the series, as pointed out to me by local expert José Enrique Martínez.
Intergalactic
Sky is responsible for this sci-fi series, although they dropped it after one season.
A group of prisoners escapes while being exiled, and then they start fighting for their freedom in some desolate locations, such as the deserts of Tabernas, Almería and Gorafe, Granada. Filming in Almería took place in La Tortuga, and Las Lomillas.
Some shots were also taken in a tunnel on the M30 motorway in Madrid.
Their point of departure is the much nicer City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, with all the usual CGI additives, representing a futuristic London.
Realm of the Waterfall
Another fantasy with good triumphing over evil and, this time, women over men.
Among the Spanish locations are Barcelona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, Garajonay National Park on La Gomera island and Fuerteventura.
Andor
Almost nobody would accuse George Lucas of milking a dead horse, and practically everyone agrees that Star Wars really needed a prequel to Rogue One. Nevertheless, what there is no doubt whatsoever about is that this is not about money, this is about art.
In March and April 2023 Lucasfilms descended upon the city of Valencia to shoot scenes for the second season, and the City of Arts and Sciences, already used in Tomorrowland, Westworld and Doctor Who among others, was the centre of attention, although Valencia Basketball’s stadium was also used.
The castle at Xátiva was also employed for some scenes.
Citadel
A story of spies with their memories erased included some shooting in Valencia.
After the train crash in Italy, Nadia is kidnapped, and when she frees herself and realises her memory is about to be erased she writes herself a note to visit Valencia.
Although the action takes place during the city’s emblematic Fallas festival in March, the shooting actually took place during October 2022.
Mason goes to Valencia looking for her and we see an aerial view and then the Torres de Serrano, one of two remaining city gates from medieval times.
Scenes of Fallas festivities were shot in the Carmen district, Valencia’s historic centre.
When Mason and Nadia rescue Carter in Morocco, they stop the car at the foot of a dam, which we are told is Barrage Bab Louta, 50 kilometres from Fez. In fact it’s a bit further away as it’s the Tous dam about 60 kilometres south of the city of Valencia. Here they argue about Celeste, and then Manticore agents arrive with news of the kidnapping of Nadia and Mason’s daughter.
The second visit to Valencia takes place in episode 5. First we see an aerial view of the City of Arts and Sciences, an increasingly popular location for film and series makers. Then we see Nadia on a balcony with a church in the distance. The street is Calle de la Paz, and the church is Santa Catalina.
In episode 6 the City of Arts and Sciences, and especially the opera house, is the scenario for Mason and Nadia’s rescue of their daughter.
Villahermosa del Río, which is in Castellón province, also appears.
The Rings of Power
The first episode of this prequel to Lord of the Rings was shot in the UK and New Zealand, although episode 2 includes filming in Tenerife.
Teide National Park and San Juan de la Rambla were two of the locations chosen.
Living the Dream
When the Pemberton family swaps Yorkshire for Florida, little do they know that the dream isn’t what they expected. Even less did they expect that in the second season their High School would in fact be the Law Faculty at Málaga University!
Filming also took place in a recording studio in Málaga, Puerto Records, and in San Roque in the province of Cádiz.
In San Roque they set up the camp site that the family runs in the Pinar del Rey, which forms part of the Parque Natural de los Alcornocales.
The coastal area of Sotogrande was used for the family home.
Films in Development
Tau Ceti Four
Diehard John McTiernan directs Uma Thurman and a group of rebels out to repeat the Star Wars formula; rebels versus all-powerful nasties.
An Actor’s Journey 2020
An Indian actor goes west looking for the dream, and visits a lot of European locations, including Madrid.
Shooting Bernarda
A film crew arrives in Andalucía to shoot Lorca’s play The House of Bernarda Alba, and then things start to get complicated.
The film hasn’t been made yet but director Marcus Thompson said “I scouted many places in Andalusia and particularly around and in the town of Cogollos de Guadix. I also visited Huerta de San Vicente, cortijo Santa Catalina and The Wellington Estate including the Dehesa Baja de illora, and of course Granada. Great locations.”
After the Fall
A spy thriller whose action locations include Madrid, Barcelona and San Sebastián in Guipúzcoa province.
To be continued…………?
Movies Made in Spain 