For the team at Studio Ciudad de la Luz, 2026 is the year it went from an up-and-coming shoot destination to a top-tier must-stop for major international productions.
In Alicante, this large-scale film and TV hub was born from the vision of Spanish filmmaker and screenwriter Luis García Berlanga, who in 2005 set out to reindustrialize the Spanish audiovisual sector. That initial seven-year phase culminated in 63 projects, including J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible and Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro.
Studio Ciudad de la Luz reopened in 2023 with a renewed intention to set itself apart from its rivals. Boasting state-of-the-art facilities, it has six climate-controlled stages, interconnected in pairs, and two indoor, floodable pits that come in at over three metres deep. Among its signature draws is the outdoor water tank, a 100-by-80-meter facility with wave-generation systems, water cannons, slides, a seawater pumping system and partial fill-and-drain capability. The backlot totals 14.8 hectares of space with natural horizon, power, water and telecommunications, over 4,000 square meters of workshop space and 7,000 square meters of storage space, with three production support buildings hosting dressing rooms, make-up, hair, offices and services.
And from 2023 to 2025, this production eden was a well-kept secret. Among some of their projects during that time period were Venom: The Last Dance with Tom Hardy, generating 35 million euros and 570 contracts, as well as The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which shot in the aforementioned water tank, the French Netflix shows Nero and Under Paris, as well as Alberto Rodriguez’ Los Tigres and Alejandro Amenabar’s El Cautivo, which had an estimated economic impact of eight million Euros.
But the word is officially out. This year, the studio has found industry consolidation in two projects of significant scale: Disney’s live-action Tangled and the permanent establishment of The Good Film Studios Spain, helping Ciudad de la Luz absorb some of the most technically and logistically demanding shoots with newfound confidence. Ciudad de la Luz is currently the only facility in Europe that allows indoor, outdoor and aquatic filming on the same site. That kind of versatility —paired with a warm-weather climate, competitive incentives and an experienced local crew —is attracting the eyeballs of producers across the globe.
A shot from the outdoor water tank at Studio Ciudad de la Luz.
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Michael Gracey’s Tangled, produced by Kristin Burr, has emerged as a case-in-point example of what’s possible at this production behemoth. The original 2010 animation, following Rapunzel’s team-up with a local outlaw, the devilish Flynn Rider, was a smash hit that swiftly accrued nearly $600 million at the global box office.
Set for a 2028 theatrical release and starring Teagan Croft, Milo Manheim and Kathryn Hahn, the new era of Tangled was shot at Studio Ciudad de la Luz over 10 months from February to October this year and involved the intensive use of stages, on-site exteriors and locations across the region of Valencia. Its direct economic impact on Ciudad de la Luz is currently over 40 million euros, with more than 1,000 professionals mobilized on the project. A whopping 2,500 local contracts were generated by the arrival of this Hollywood production, lending help to the studio’s 90 percent occupancy in 2026.
Gracey argues that fellow U.S. execs should consider booking that flight to Alicante. “There’s an extraordinary level of passion and dedication here,” he says ahead of the American Film Market. “That energy comes across on screen.” The filmmaker, best known for his work on The Greatest Showman (2017) and Better Man (2024), said his crew was able to combine exterior and interior stages, “and it feels real,” he adds. “You don’t notice the transition.”
He sings the praises of the local crews and scenery here in southeast Spain. The region certainly gives Los Angeles a run for its money, attracting more than 300 days of sunshine a year and diverse landscapes such as beaches, mountains, salt flats and protected natural areas. With the bustling Spanish town of Alicante, an international airport, and hotel capacity of over 70,000 beds in the surrounding area, Gracey lauds the no-fuss environment: “The people, the locations and the spaces have been fantastic. Having the city only 15 minutes away is a real advantage.” Burr even hails it as her “favorite location.” She explains: “The stages are among the most spectacular I’ve ever worked on [and] I’m extremely impressed by the level of dedication we’ve seen on the sets. I’m very demanding when it comes to production design, and I think this is some of the best I’ve seen in my career.”
As vocal advocates of Studio Ciudad de la Luz, Gracey and Burr are in good company. Top producer Miriam Segal founded the Good Films Collective in 2007, established to develop and finance “intelligent, inclusive and commercially ambitious independent films.” Now, her joint venture with the Spanish government and Canadian-U.S. outfit Orogen Media, The Good Films Studios Spain has set up a permanent home at Studio Ciudad de la Luz, bringing with it an investment of 19.8 million Euros from the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT) and private partners.
With the arrival of Segal’s Spanish branch here in Alicante —a long-term commitment eyeing 20 international features over the next 10 years —her company has evolved from rising production outfit to integrated studio business. “It’s the best crew I’ve worked with anywhere in the world,” says Segal, known for The Infiltrator (2016) with Bryan Cranston and The Postcard Killings (2020) with Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
The Good Films Studios Spain have set their first film out of the Alicante hub: People of the Book, directed by Michael Haussman and based on the novel of the same name written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks. The cast includes Ziad Bakri, Rania Ben Fattoum, Ankido Hussen, Luca Ferrini, Giorgia Sinicorni, Pasquale Esposito and Jose Luis Ferrier, who filmed in the studio’s outdoor water tank, as well as on their stages and workshops.
It isn’t just the expansive facilities drawing the industry’s most prolific producers and crews, but the territory’s expertly trained ecosystem of graduates. The Film Trades School initiative, developed in collaboration with the country’s leading film school, Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC), has upskilled thousands of students across more than 30 specialisms, including set construction, lighting, camera, sound, VFX, green filming, costume, production, who are able to come and hone their craft at Studio Ciudad de la Luz.
Regional and national tax incentives continue to be a real weapon in the team’s arsenal. A non-repayable grant of 25 percent on production and post-production expenditure is available in Valencia for a maximum relief of 1.5 million Euros per project. At the country-wide level, Spanish productions and co-productions can claim 30 percent of the first million and 25 percent on the remainder back, capped at 20 million Euros per production. For foreign shoots in Spain, it’s the exact same, but the minimum spend in the country must total at least one million Euros.
Ciudad de la Luz and the region of Valencia are hopeful they’ve consolidated their position as a real and competitive option in the league of Europe’s most demanding production destinations. And the knock-on effect so far is palpable: “When the Region of Valencia believes in itself,” begins Marián Cano, the regional minister for industry, tourism, innovation and trade, “it can compete with anyone to attract top-level projects.”