From Cardona to Almeria: A route through towns that have been the setting for films

BarcelonaWhat do localities like Tossa de Mar, Cardona, Bielsa, or Ayna have in common? Well, among other things, their undeniable tourist appeal, but also the fact that they have been the setting for landmark films such as Pandora y el holandés errante, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Palm Trees in the Snow, or Amanece, que no es poco. They are four examples of localities that fit perfectly into what is called screen tourism, a modality of cultural tourism that drives visits to destinations, landscapes, or cities that have appeared in or are related to films, television series, or audiovisual productions of all kinds, such as documentaries, video games, or commercials, as well as events linked to the audiovisual world, such as festivals or thematic gatherings. It is an upward trend that is experiencing significant growth since the birth of streaming platforms and leads viewers to visit those settings where their favorite stories were filmed.

It is estimated that around 80 million travelers choose their destinations based on films and series, and this causes an interesting economic impact on the cities that have hosted the filming, as it promotes sustainable tourism that promotes local culture and heritage through the audiovisual industry. Major cities such as Barcelona, Girona, Madrid, or Seville promote this type of tourism to attract new visitors through their Film Offices, and in this context, the Network of Film Towns has also been created, which in just a few months of existence already brings together about twenty towns linked to screen tourism throughout Spain.

Ana Alonso, president of the Network, explains that the origin of the initiative comes from further afield, specifically from the action that the consultancy Travelling Set has been promoting for three years, which works specifically in the screen tourism segment. They realized that in rural areas or small municipalities there is also an important film or audiovisual legacy that was not being fully visualized and that, on occasion, has been fading away. For all these reasons, they saw clearly that it was necessary to promote a project that would allow "taking advantage of this cultural heritage to attract visitors or for residents themselves to revisit and highlight their city". Alonso recalls that Spain is an area where there are more and more film shoots, "and thanks to streaming platforms there is a lot of content filmed here that is seen all over the world". They understand that this impact must be leveraged to project and generate interest in these destinations. From the Network, they offer collaborating towns advice, training, and meetings to share experiences, while also providing support to achieve greater visibility or create specific routes, for example.

In short, the president of the Network of Film Towns explains that the aim of the initiative, in which only towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants can participate, is to help discover these magical places where films, series, directors, and actors have left their mark. And she emphasizes: "When we talk about screen tourism, we are not just talking about locations, but also about other attractions linked to the audiovisual world such as film festivals, museums, thematic events, or even people".

On the Network's website, you can find the towns that are joining the initiative, as well as others that are not yet part of it but fit perfectly with the project's idea. The first two Catalan towns to join the Network are Cardona and Tossa de Mar.