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A few days ago in Spain, the “Ciudad de la Luz” reopened, a major film studio complex built in the early 2000s just outside of Alicante on the Costa Blanca south of Valencia. Between 2005 and 2012, around sixty films were shot – in whole or in part – in the Ciudad de la Luz, including Asterix at the Olympic Games with Gérard Depardieu, The Impossible with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor and Prometheus by Ridley Scott : the complex, however, had to be closed due to various economic problems and because, according to the European authorities, public investment in the location violated European competition rules.
Now, after ten years, the government of the province of Valencia has obtained authorization to reopen the studies and hopes to attract new productions, especially from abroad, thanks to a €2.4 million redevelopment project: the aim is to complete the shooting of 26 Major to align films over the next five years for a total of more than 200 productions.
The Ciudad de la Luz includes 11,000 square meters of internal filming space, as well as many warehouses and laboratories. In addition to six studios of varying sizes, there are large spaces for outdoor recording, including a lap pool for those in the water. Three other buildings are intended for dressing rooms, makeup rooms and offices.
According to the decision of the European authorities, the complex should have been sold, but two auctions organized in 2016 had been abandoned. In the years that followed, the site was used as a digital district for various start-ups, as well as the headquarters of the Innovation Council of the Province of Valencia; More recently it has been used as a vaccination center and temporary accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.
In recent years, thanks to the success of the productions of streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, the demand for spaces to shoot films and TV series has increased significantly, and many film companies had already begun to choose Spain for its low costs and good professionals. With 300 days of sunshine a year, proximity to Alicante Airport and the numerous hotel complexes along the Mediterranean coast, the provincial government wants to meet these needs.
The first productions in the Ciudad de la Luz are scheduled to start later this year. According to the local government’s idea, the studios’ activities will allow the creation of 4,900 new permanent jobs, plus thousands more in sectors related to the services that the complex may need, including the hotel. As Ximo Puig, President of the Province of Valencia, said before the reopening, the site aims to become a “point of reference” for the audiovisual sector in Europe: if the forecasts come true, then for the province 850 million euros profit.
– Also read: How old films get into the cinemas