Film and TV incentive in Spain (mainland)
Spain (mainland) runs the Tax deduction for international productions (Art. 36.2): a tax credit worth 30% / 25%. A credit against tax, claimed through a return. It is reliable, but it arrives after the filing rather than during the shoot, and in some countries it is itself taxable.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Tax deduction for international productions (Art. 36.2)
- Type
- Tax credit
- Headline rate
- 30% / 25%
- Minimum local spend
- €1m Spanish spend (€200k for animation and post)
- Cap per project
- No cap
- Funding
- Entitlement Statutory deduction, no annual budget
- Paid
- Through the tax position of a Spanish service company
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- EUR
Higher rates and tiers
- 30% on the first EUR 1,000,000 of qualifying spend
- 25% above that
What this means for the cashflow
If the production qualifies, the money follows. No queue, no annual pot. The production carries the gap until the money arrives, and that is a financing question rather than a budget line.
When it pays: Through the tax position of a Spanish service company.
The detail
30% on the first €1m of Spanish spend, 25% above that. Claimed by an ICAA-registered Spanish service company and passed on through the service contract. Regional schemes go higher: Navarre 35%, Bizkaia up to 60%.
What you have to submit
Cultural certificate for foreign shoots, ICAA. No prescribed budget format. The Spanish service company applies for the ICAA cultural certificate with the official technical and artistic sheet plus its own budget, then claims the deduction in its tax return.
Building the budget first? Use the free film budget template or the Budget Builder, then map it onto whatever the fund asks for.
How it compares
Counted on the best rate a production can reach after tax, Spain (mainland) sits at number 14 of the 32 European schemes we track (30%). Work out the net value on your own spend, side by side with up to two other countries, in the incentive comparison.
Pays more
Pays less
- Portugal 30% / 25% (large track); 30% to 40% (medium track)
- Hungary 30% (up to 37.5% with foreign costs)
- Poland 30%
Other tax credit schemes
- United Kingdom 34%
- Ireland 32%
- France 30% (40% VFX-heavy)
- Canary Islands (Spain) 50% / 45%
- Italy 40%
Shooting there
We list 234 places to shoot in Spain and 51 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Spain Film Commission and checked on 2026-09-05. Incentives change: confirm the current terms with the fund before you commit a budget to them.
All 32 incentives · Compare them on your own spend · Locations by country