You’ve probably heard of jet-setting, but what about set-jetting?
A term coined to describe holiday itineraries based on the shooting locations of films or TV series, this travel trend is proving particularly lucrative in Spain’s capital, Madrid.
In April, the city council’s tourism chief Almudena Maíllo del Valle unveiled the findings from a study by the Madrid Film Office, developed in collaboration with L. R. Klein University Institute of Economic Prediction of the Autonomous University of Madrid, that showed the blockbuster growth of the city’s creative sectors.
Over four years from 2021 to 2024, the ‘Dimension and economic impact of film and series shoots in Madrid’ research found that the Spanish capital was the location of 173 films and a further 242 TV series.
These projects generated a total economic impact of €1.54 billion in production, with an annual average of €385.5 million.
For del Valle, the study highlights how the sector generates citywide employment and investment. She also said that it makes a “decisive contribution to projecting Madrid’s image internationally as a creative destination, as well as boosting tourism associated with this global visibility”.
Year after year, Madrid has remained a sought-after filming location for both Spanish and international productions. In 2025, as part of efforts to promote local tourism, the Madrid Regional Government pledged to invest three payments totalling €1.5 million for an upcoming Woody Allen film.
Wasp, an acronym for “Woody Allen Summer Project 2026”, is earmarked to be completed by 31 December 2027 and is set to be shot in and around Madrid, with “identifiable locations” shown on screen.
Other titles such as Deception, which filmed a scene on Calle de Alcalá, The Cold Light of Day and Terminator: Dark Fate have also been shot in the Spanish capital.
Step into the scene: the must-see locations
Fancy walking in the footsteps of the stars? The city’s tourism board and film office have an array of tours through the locations of cinema and TV series.
With the influx of television productions arriving at Madrid’s doorstep, the council has a two-part “Madrid, the Capital of TV Series” routes. The first is a map through nine titles filmed in Madrid, including the popular Netflix series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). The second guide adds eight more critically acclaimed titles, including The Midas Touch and Small Coincidences.
While the “Berlanga of Madrid” route, available in English and Spanish, celebrates one of Spain’s most influential directors, Luis García Berlanga. Born in Valencia, Berlanga moved to Madrid in 1947.
The 15-stop route begins at his family home in Chamberí, where he worked on classics like Welcome Mr. Marshall, Plácido, and The Executioner, and ends at the Instituto Cervantes, where in 2008 he left an unpublished script in the Arts Archives to be opened on the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2021.
Madrid first welcomed cinema in 1896 when the Lumière brothers’ Cinematograph was first screened in a salon on Carrera de San Jerónimo – right in the heart of the city.