Spain’s New Film Law Falls With the Snap Election: What Remains in Place for Filming in Spain

The dissolution of Spain’s Parliament on October 5 has left the reform of the 2007 Film Law unapproved for the second time. For international productions, the essentials have not changed: Spain’s film tax incentives remain in force, because they never depended on this law. What is now on hold is the improvement the industry had been calling for over the past months.

Spain’s draft Film and Audiovisual Culture Law will not be passed in this legislative term. On October 5, Royal Decree 806/2026 dissolved the Congress and the Senate and called a general election for Sunday, November 29. The new Parliament will be constituted on December 23.

With the dissolution, all bills still going through Parliament lapse. The film law reform met the same fate with the early election in 2023, so Spain will continue to regulate the sector under Law 55/2007.

A Reform Left Halfway

The Spanish government approved the bill in June 2024 and sent it to Congress under the fast-track procedure. Its progress was slow:

  • June 2026: the full Congress rejected the amendments seeking to block the bill, by 175 votes to 172.
  • July 2026: the amendments to the text were published.
  • September-October 2026: the Culture Committee’s working group began reviewing the text just days before the dissolution.

Among the measures left pending:

  • Formal recognition of series within the legal framework for audiovisual works.
  • Greater protection for film heritage.
  • Changes to support for independent production.
  • Transparency obligations for streaming platforms on their audience data.
  • A reservation of at least 35% of certain grants for productions directed by women.

The new government that emerges from the election will have to decide whether to revive the reform and restart its passage through Parliament.

What Remains in Place for International Productions

The collapse of the Film Law does not affect Spain’s current tax incentives. The tax rebate for foreign productions is set out in Article 36.2 of Spain’s Corporate Income Tax Act and continues to apply under the same conditions:

  • A 30% deduction on the first €1 million spent in Spain and 25% on the remainder.
  • A cap of €20 million per production and €10 million per episode for series.
  • A minimum spend of €1 million, or €200,000 for animation.
  • The production must go through a Spanish production company registered with the ICAA, Spain’s national film agency.

Regional incentives, which have their own rules, also remain in force:

  • Canary Islands: 54% on the first €1 million when spend on the islands exceeds €1.9 million, and 45% on the remainder.
  • Basque Country: deductions of 50% to 60% in Álava and Gipuzkoa, and 35% to 60% in Bizkaia, depending on the share of spend in the territory.
  • Navarre: a 35% rate on spend in the region for international productions.

For anyone planning a shoot in 2027, the rules of the game stay the same.

The Incentive Increase, on Hold

What is now uncertain is the planned improvement to the incentive. During the bill’s passage, Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun announced that the new law would raise tax incentives to the maximum allowed by the European Union, although he never specified rates.

The international production sector had been calling for this for months. In June, PROFILM, the association representing most Spanish companies that provide production services to international projects, presented its annual report. According to its data, investment from international shoots and post-production work in Spain fell 20% in 2025, to €103.9 million. The association called for the general incentive to rise above the current 30% and warned that the minister’s pledge seemed focused on domestic productions.

Meanwhile, international competition keeps moving:

  • United States: Congress is considering a federal film and TV tax credit of 20% to 30%.
  • France: it has extended its tax rebate for international productions until 2028.

What to Watch

For producers considering Spain, three issues remain open:

  • The makeup of the new government and its position on the reform.
  • Whether the incentive increase comes through a new Film Law, the national budget or another route.
  • Changes in incentive payment timelines, one of the industry’s main demands.

In the meantime, choosing a territory within Spain — the general regime, the Canary Islands, the Basque Country or Navarre — remains one of the financial decisions with the greatest impact on a production budget.

At Soul Pictures, we support international production companies in planning shoots in Spain and analyzing the tax incentives available in each territory. If you are considering Spain for your next project, get in touch with our team.