On Pelayo street, in Madrid's trendy neighborhood of Chueca, the production company left a letter-size sheet of paper stuck to a plastic fence alerting residents to the fact that on the night of June 17 and 18 there would be a film shoot in the area. At 8.30 p.m. on the 18th, there were more than 40 people filling 100 meters of sidewalk as they prepared to start shooting, while the actors, already in makeup and wardrobe, chatted in a circle. Passersby stopped to ask what was going on, then looked up at the giant spotlights hanging from the balconies and figured it out. A group of young tourists crossed the street, dodging the hustle and bustle, while a neighbor looked out over the balcony railing to watch the scene below.
Madrid wants to consolidate its position as a "benchmark" for the audiovisual industry, according to Almudena Maíllo, Madrid's Councilor for Tourism. In 2024, 41 films, 53 series, 430 commercials and 496 other medium and large-scale projects (including music videos and television programs) were shot in the capital, according to data from the Madrid Film Office, a city agency.
Figures for the last five years show a stability in the number of production companies interested in filming in the streets of the Spanish capital. The 1,020 shoots in 2024 represented an increase of almost 10% over the previous year, and showcase how Madrid is on track to surpass the figures reached before the Covid pandemic.
Without the sets that Madrid's neighborhoods have provided over the years, there would be no classics like Pedro Almodóvar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, a comedy shot in the streets of Chueca in the 1980s, or the famous scene of a deserted Gran Vía in Alejandro Amenábar's Open Your Eyes (1997). The latest available data from the Madrid Film Office, from 2023, show that Madrid is home to "29% of the total number of active companies (2,881) dedicated to audiovisual activities in Spain" and that the industry employs some 25,500 people in the city. The agency said that the figures for 2024 prove that the city "remains a privileged set for film shoots." Productions shot here last year include Pedro Almodovar's The Room Next Door, with Juliane Moore and Tilda Swinton in the leading roles.
While city officials celebrate Madrid's popularity as a film and television set, residents of the most in-demand neighborhoods are not particularly thrilled to find their streets constantly crowded with cameras, cables, coat racks and people running around with spotlights and microphones in their hands. "We're not against film shoots. An occasional one is not bad, but this occupation of our streets has become the norm in our daily lives," says Esteban Benito, of the Neighborhood Association of Chueca and Las Salesas.
Benito was particularly struck by the notice that the production company in charge of the shoot on Pelayo Street sent a few days before filming began, warning neighbors that they might hear "a crashing sound sometime in the early evening, though definitely not in the middle of the night" because they were going to make a pane of glass explode. In addition, the scenes required getting the ground wet, so they would bring a truck with a tankful of water and a smaller vehicle with a crane and lifting basket. For Benito, it was yet another attack on the residents' right to peace and quiet.
The fact is, the central neighborhoods of the Centro district are by far the most in-demand by production companies. In 2024 the city received 4,000 requests to occupy public roads (each project, explains a spokesman for the Tourism department, may require more than one). One out of every three approved permits was for the Centro district (1,130). The second most popular city district was Chamberí (370). Carlo Dursi, president of the Madrid Audiovisual Association (AMA), acknowledges that there is a high concentration of productions in the neighborhoods contained within these central districts of Madrid, then adds, by way of consolation, "although never as much as in Rome."
Dursi underscores that AMA is "not aware" of any recurring conflicts with residents and that, when there have been any, these have been quickly resolved. "We are happy with the city's permit policies," he says, pointing to a fact that some local residents see in a less positive light: permits to shoot on Madrid's streets are very cheap.
The fee for 2025 is €48.65 (under $57) for the issuance of administrative documents, plus €0.58 per linear meter and calendar day of street occupation and €0.87 per meter of occupied parking space and calendar day. Benito, the Chueca resident, believes that these prices "are a joke."
"The city says that the real payment is the return on the image it projects of Madrid, and that is why it charges so little," he adds. But the shoots, on many occasions, not only bring revenue to the city coffers, but also to the neighborhood by renting out premises or hiring local catering services. Production companies sometimes also take care of cleaning and repairing street furniture.
Taking into account the rates in Madrid, the shooting in those 100 meters of Pelayo Street paid by the production company was just under €1,200 ($1,400). According to the Barcelona Film Commission, the fee for the paperwork in that city is close to €90 ($105), plus between €480 ($561) and €600 ($701) per day and location, depending on the number of technical vehicles involved. In other European capitals such as London, Paris or Rome, the price could multiply several times over.
Casilda Rivilla, of the neighborhood association representing the Sol and Las Letras neighborhoods, two other very popular locations in this area, stresses that the income from filming on public streets should "benefit" the neighborhood in some way. "It's not just about making it more expensive just for the sake of it," she notes. But it would be a way to take care of the neighborhood and reduce the "frequency" of problems they run into, such as finding a parking spot on a street where filming is taking place.
"Our neighborhoods are the scene of a significant number of film shoots and it is true that this is a symbol of the good and dynamic cultural life of our city," says Lucia Lois, a city councilor for the leftist party Más Madrid. However, she admits that "it is also true that they cause inconvenience to the residents of Centro, especially parking and access problems." Más Madrid proposed in a plenary session in March that measures be taken in this regard, such as setting a monthly filming limit per street, forcing the production company to give advance notice to neighbors, or offering alternative free parking spaces. Rivilla stresses: "We are in favor of culture, but it can't get out of control."