It’s almost everyday that cinema, TV or publicity productions choose to shoot in Barcelona. Shooting in Barcelona is now usual given the large offer of sets and the great quality of technical means the city has.
Among the great amount of stages across the whole city, Barcelona is a place where many situations – though with different goals – can be recreated.
Both historical areas as el Born or el barrio Gótico and modern places like the surroundings of el distrito 22@ or the Plaça Europa are used as sets for the shooting that happen in Barcelona.
Barcelonese streets and buildings recreate any period of time and spread a message in the whole city. That’s how it is to shoot in Barcelona.
Magical examples of shootings in Barcelona
One of the most memorable examples is that of the famous production Perfume: story of a murderer (2006) directed by Tom Tykwer and adapted from the book of Patrick Süskind.
Taking place during the 18th century, bringing people through varied places such as the Poble Espanyol or some streets very typical of el barrio Gótico of Barcelona. The viewer imagines itself in a tumultuous Parisian period of time among some details typical of the Catalan capital.
More lately, international directors such as Pedro Almodóvar with All about my mother (1999), Cédric Kaplisch and its Auberge espagnole (2002), Woody Allen presenting Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), or Alejandro González Iñárritu with Biutiful (2010), have brought to Barcelona great actors and great productions.
The Guardian has written an article as a review of all those movies, entitled Las 10 mejores películas que se rodaron en Barcelona.
Barcelona: Camera and action
The 2.494 shootings that the city of Barcelona registered in show the great impact of a city that really loves the camera from all around the world. The Barcelona/Catalunya FilmCommission regulate all those productions.
The photo shooting or filming of advertising are, without a doubt. the most numerous. In 2013, there were 1.203 productions. A really impressive figure that delivered the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona.
Cinema and television are just behind. In 2013 there were 31 full-length movies, 3 TV shows and around 16 documentaries in Barcelona.
Others figures that also are appealing are the 183 documentaries, 324 short-length movies and 106 videoclips that were shot there. And that goes without the impact the city has on every single visitor, who keeps on capturing it.
Barcelona, publicity leader
The usual choice of Barcelona has made of the city an undenying leader as a national set and a referee in terms of publicity in the whole world.
The reactivating of the audiovisual sector is mainly due to the incomes of the movies, in which cars, fashion and fragrance ads are mixed with the buildings of Antoni Gaudí, Jean Nouvel o Herzog & De Meuron.
Both traditional areas as Ciutat Vella or L’Eixample and others like Sant Martí (Forum-Poble Nou-22@) and Sants-Montjuic (Fira de Barcelona-Montjuic-Gran Via) fuse however their architecture and their style are different.
Weather an ancient atmosphere or futurist scenes, nothing and noone can resist Barcelona whether on TV or in the cinemas.
