The Archipelago is a natural setting in great demand in the film world for filming series and movies in the Canary Islands due to its numerous locations and its attractive tax incentives.
Major Hollywood movies such as Fast and Furious 6, Jason Bourne or Rambo V have been filmed in Canary Island locations. In addition to the big screen, there has also been room for filming of national and foreign television series that have ended up dazzling critics both for their plots and their locations. Read on and find out about all the filming of series and movies in the Canary Islands!
Filming in the Canary Islands, why choose the islands?
Shooting of films and series in the Canary Islands doubled in 2022, far surpassing the figures recorded in 2021, which were the highest until then. More national and international productions, more investment and more direct hiring of technical and artistic professionals are the three most outstanding milestones of this period. All of this has come about as a result of a successful strategy that has managed to increase the already favorable tax advantages, as well as the necessary inter-institutional collaboration to facilitate the development of this industry.
Some of the most popular series and movies
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is the BBC's globally acclaimed British science fiction series and has been filmed in the Canary Islands. During its 12 seasons, the team of the series has chosen the Canary Islands several times for the filming of its episodes.
In 2014 they signed Kill the moon in Lanzarote, in locations such as the Timanfaya National Park, the Natural Park of the Volcanoes and La Geria. A year later, in 2015, the Doctor Who team returned to the Islands on two occasions. The first was to shoot the first two episodes of season nine in Tenerife: The Magician 's Apprentice and The Witch 's Familiar. Later they returned to shoot the season finale in the arid spaces of Fuerteventura.
Finally, in 2019, episodes of the twelfth season of the series were filmed in Tenerife. The producer of Doctor Who has stated on numerous occasions that "the island is perfect for filming because the appearance of the landscape on the Teide is like from another planet and, in addition, they needed a colonial-looking town, like Garachico". The filming involved more than 50 people who traveled from the UK to Tenerife, with the collaboration of local production companies. This included a technical crew of 40 people and 12 local actors. The team in charge of the British series also requested the services of local audiovisual equipment companies, as well as security, transportation and catering.
Black Mirror
Black Mirror is another of the British cult series that has been filmed in the Canary Islands. The masterful science fiction series created by Charlie Brooker in 2011 has been able to show the political and social concerns of the population and has chosen the Canary Islands as a filming set on two occasions.
The episode Odio Nacional, the sixth of the third season, shows images taken in the municipality of Tejeda, in Gran Canaria. After that good experience, a film crew of 80 people returned in the fourth season to shoot part of the third episode, where Los Hervideros, Playa Bermeja and other southern points of the Volcanoes National Park can be seen.
Iron
Another internationally successful series filmed in the Canary Islands is Hierro, a Movistar+ original Spanish series launched in 2019. Its plot revolves around a murder that occurs in El Hierro, the most remote island of the Canary Islands. Within this suspenseful story, the Island becomes another character due to the continuous references to the customs of the people of El Hierro and the landscape, the volcanic earth, the cliffs, the banana plantations and the ocean.
Such is the importance of the locations in Hierro that from the beginning, spaces such as El Sabinar, the Parish Church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción or the Mirador de la Peña were integrated into the script. Although in the first season you can see practically the whole island: La Frontera, Valverde, El Pinar, Jinama, Arenas Blancas, the hermitage of the Virgen de los Reyes are just some of them.
The Witcher
The Witcher is a Netflix blockbuster released in 2019 that became the series with the most successful debut within its catalog. It is an adaptation of the popular fantasy novel saga starring Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) the sorcerer created by Andrzej Sapkowsk.
The series shot many of its exteriors in the Canary Islands, specifically in Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma and Tenerife. In fact, only the first and third episodes do not contain any scene shot in the Archipelago. In the rest we can find locations in Gran Canaria such as the Barranco de Fataga, the caves of Acusa Seca, the Roque Nublo or the impressive dunes of Maspalomas.
We can see the rest of the islands in the enchanted forest where Ciri, the young princess, and her escaped companion enter. This magical space is a mixture of images taken in different places, such as La Zarza, in Tenerife; El Cedro, in La Gomera; or La Galga and the incredible forest with waterfall of Los Tilos, in La Palma.
On the other hand, the Caingorn mountains where the hunting party of the sixth episode takes place correspond to other places of La Palma, such as Cumbrecita, Llano del Jable and Roque de los Muchachos, which is also the highest point of the island. And the beach of Gors Velen, which appears in the last episode, is actually the beach of Guayedra, very close to the town and port of Agaete, in Gran Canaria.
The Peacemaker
The Finnish series The Peacemaker tells the story of Ann-Mari Koistinen (Irina Björklund), a peace negotiator who works tirelessly in Turkey to restore permanent peace between Turks and Kurds.
The Peacemaker is a political drama series set in places like Turkey, Berlin or New York but shot almost entirely in Gran Canaria. Of the 100 days of shooting, only seven took place in Finland and another four on the Peninsula. The rest are set in locations such as Playa del Cabrón, Meloneras or Arinaga, in Gran Canaria.
Such was the confidence of the production company Matila Röhr Productions Oy in the Canary Islands as a filming destination that it invested 4.5 of its 7 million euro budget in this natural set, including the participation of a permanent crew of 60 people and up to 2000 extras, most of them local professionals.
Filming in the Canary Islands is just one more piece, but the Islands are a land with a thousand things to see, explore and get to know. If you are interested in learning more interesting facts about the Canary Islands, here is a link to the Explora Canarias section of Marca Canaria.
Photos: Government of the Canary Islands, panoramaaudiovisual.com
