Lights, camera, action: these are the Malaga province filming locations which take centre stage

Television series and movie film production in Malaga province has been experiencing a golden age for the last five years. It is boom particularly driven by the arrival of the streaming platforms shooting major series on the Costa del Sol.

In 2017 the first big productions arrived with Genius: Picasso and Black Mirror, the following years have seen more series arrive, despite the problems of confinement during the harshest period of the pandemic.

The last few weeks has seen a recent flurry of filming, with three series from the major platforms such as Netflix and Disney/Hulu. A leading role has been played by the Malaga-based production company Fresco Film, which, while filming new scenes for The House of the Dragon (HBO) in Cáceres, has also worked on We Were the Lucky Ones, a period story set in World War II and the mythological thriller Kaos.

To the list must be added the popular Alpha Males, a franchise now in its second season, El Correo - a film shot in Marbella - and an Israeli TV game show (Amazing Race), which already point to an excellent first half of the year in the province after filming in 2022 left an investment of some 14 million euros in Malaga city alone.

The three filming offices in the province, set up in Malaga, Marbella and the Axarquia, are responsible for facilitating filming for production companies who come looking for the 320 days a year of sunshine and the highest number of daylight hours in Europe, the good travel connections and the excellent network of technicians in the audiovisual industry on the Costa del Sol. And, of course, the locations that are the jewels in the crown of all filming.

Malaga city centre of the capital has traditionally been the most sought after by the cameras, although in recent years unique locations have emerged that have turned the gaze towards the province, where you can find Californian landscapes, Caribbean jungles, Brazilian streets, Australian cities, Greek corners and the Vatican itself without leaving the Costa del Sol. And of course, scenes from Malaga. These are the most successful sets on the screen:

The most unique location in Malaga and the most sought after by national and international production companies if there is a prison in the script since it was the main setting for 321 Days in Michigan (2014). The last one to shoot there a couple of weeks ago was the Hulu/Disney blockbuster We Were the Lucky Ones, set in World War II, which did not miss the opportunity to shoot in a real prison no longer in use. Its bars have been used for prison scenes in the series Black Mirror (2017), Down There (2018), Malaka (2019), The Devil's Reflections (2020) and Urban (2023), as well as the feature films Between Two Waters (2018) and Caleta Palace (2023). A setting so seductive that even in The Warrior Nun (2020) they used it to shoot a rave party in its cells. This space has a rehabilitation project prepared for cultural and social uses, although the head of A Film Location and winner of an 'Oscar' for the stage for Game of Thrones, Tate Aráez, said that «part of it should be kept for filming productions because it is a unique stage in Spain and very much in demand».

Marbella is another great setting in the province for the location scouts of series, films and commercials. And among them there is a recently discovered set that is in contention for the series: the jetty of the Marbella Club Hotel. The jetty has already been seen in the Netflix series Toy Boy (2019), El Tiempo que te Doy (2021) and Warrior Nun (2020), which also rented the resort's neighbouring Villa del Mar for filming. This dock will also soon be seen in the Amazon series The Farad, about Marbella in the 1980s and arms trafficking, and will be a 1940s Brazilian port in We Were the Lucky Ones, where star Logan Lerman, who has turned his mythological Percy Jackson into a World War II character for this Hulu (Disney) TV blockbuster, disembarks.

Next to the old prison in Malaga, this setting is one of the most exclusive in the city due to its tropical garden that allows filmmakers to travel to the jungle without getting on a plane and travel to an exotic destination. It has been setting for numerous music videos (Pastora Soler, Chambao, Dry Martina and Zenet) and advertisements (Springfield, Mojospine, Fenistil), the series El Ministerio del Tiempo (2017) portrayed the struggle of Hernán Cortes and the Mayans to control the new world without having to leave La Concepción, while one of the sequences of Lady Diana's journey through Australia in the fifth season of The Crown (2020) was actually filmed in this garden that 'interpreted' the town of Adelaide.

The city centre of Malaga is a very contemporary destination for all kinds of productions and is one of the most sought-after. Among them, there is a set that has recently gained a lot of points: the tandem Cathedral/Plaza del Obispo. One of the most spectacular marks in this area was left by Robert de Niro in the filming two decades ago of The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2003), a lavish setting and scenery that was repeated a few weeks ago with the filming of We Were the Lucky Ones, when the square became a Rio de Janeiro set in the 1940s with hundreds of extras, horse-drawn carriages and abundant retro posters. In addition, this setting also has a starring role in Aline (2022), the 'biopic' based on the life of the singer Celine Dion, although the most grandiose use of this location occurred with the filming of Warrior Nun (2020) which, with a background of music from Rosalía and thanks to the editing, turned the choir of the cathedral of Malaga into the very Sistine Chapel in which the new pope was elected. Here is the moment.

On the coast there are numerous scattered settings that appear in numerous productions, although there is one that is back in fashion: Puerto Banús. The marina in Marbella and a mansion in La Zagaleta have starred in the latest instalment of the series The Crown, which on screen has allowed the plot to be set on the Côte d'Azur and in Los Angeles by moving the camera just a few kilometres. Fresco Film, say that many locations on the Costa del Sol are ideal for setting fictions in California, as in the next instalment of Black Mirror, which Netflix premieres on 15 June. For this episode of the sixth season, both Puerto Banús and an inn in Ojén, which appears in the trailer converted into a roadside diner in the USA, were used. In addition, the series Bosé (2023) set an episode in Julio Iglesias' beachside mansion in Miami, although the house was actually in Puente Romano.

It is one of the most attractive venues in the city. Not only for audiovisual productions but also for exhibitions and all kinds of events. This means that it is not always available for filming. Numerous advertising spots have been filmed in this central area of Malaga and it has even snowed in the middle of June for the filming of a Saudi Airlines advertisement. The Plaza de la Constitución has once again climbed up the ranking of locations after the premiere of the hit Netflix series The Snow Girl, which adapted the novel of the same name by Javier Castillo and which used this iconic site for the spectacular opening scene of the disappearance of a little girl. It took three days of filming and several hundred litres of water to simulate the rain during the Three Kings parade in Malaga, which kicked off the series that became number one in the world last February.

Location scout Tate Aráez said that his favourite places to shoot are the palaces of Malaga. And El Limonar has examples such as the beautiful Villa Fernanda, which has recently been the setting for We Were the Lucky Ones, while the film Caleta Palace has revived the luxury hotel days of the current headquarters of the Government sub-delegation. However, if there is an emerging and highly demanded location, it is the Huerta del Conde Palace, in Pinares de San Antón. Former consulate of Panama, this is where series such as the toned boys of Toy Boy (Netflix), the gangsters of Snatch 2 (Sony) and a few months ago, Archie, the 'biopic' about Cary Grant that filmed scenes of the legendary actor's mansion in California in this luxurious set. «This view of Malaga and numerous locations of Marbella and the Costa del Sol are perfect for the California setting and we offer it a lot,» says Aráez, who was responsible for the Palacio de Congresos in Torremolinos being converted into Los Angeles Airport for The Crown.

La Casona del Parque is also one of the city's most sought-after buildings and has recently made a comeback on the radar of major productions. In the 1970s, this setting already served as a Caribbean hotel for Brigitte Bardot in El Boulevard del Ron, a role that it has recovered with the war film set in World War II El arma del Engaño (2022), which left an image of other times by hanging a Francoist flag from the main balcony of the Town Hall to set a scene of Spain in the 1940s. However, the most eye-catching filming is yet to hit the screen and took place at the end of 2022 with the Amazon series The Farad, which turned one side of the city's noble building into a luxurious Monte Carlo hotel. With gunshots and fast-paced getaways in cars.

Antequera is another of the recurring locations. On the one hand, the raw nature of the Torcal de Antequera has welcomed film crews for series such as Emerald City (2017), based on The Wizard of Oz, while on the religious side it has churches in great demand, such as the Church of San Juan de Dios, where Mario Casas filmed the 'thriller' Toro (2016), and above all the Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María which, thanks to the screen magic, swapped prayers for action scenes when it became a refuge for the training of the expeditious novice-ninjas in the first season of The Warrior Nun.

Among the emerging locations is this area located between the town centre and the Victoria neighbourhood. Its aesthetics, halfway between urban and twilight demolition, featured in the series Toy Boy, followed by the popular Cruzcampo advert that brought Lola Flores back to life to reclaim the «accent» and which had the murals of the neighbourhood as its main feature. In addition, just a few days ago, the Netflix production Kaos' starring Jeff Goldblum, filmed a scene set in Greece with a police car chase in the traditional district.

Torremolinos maintains its pull for the screen. The film paradise of the tourist boom of the sixties has been reviving its presence on the silver screen thanks to major productions. Although the curious thing is that its streets have more recently lent themselves to eye-catching car chases. The first one to start the trend was Toro, with Luis Tosar and Mario Casas escaping from the gangster at full speed. The same ones chased through the streets of Playamar by the pioneering policemen in the series Brigada Costa del Sol (2019). The car chases from the film Culpa Mía, which was released on Prime Video last Thursday, with its Fast and Furious aesthetics, but with accelerated teenagers as the main players, were also filmed in Torremolinos.

In the Axarquía, Nerja - the star of the Spanish series Verano Azul - already has a firm competitor in Vélez, which the producers have discovered in recent years. The restoration of El Pósito, an 18th century warehouse used for grain storage, did not go unnoticed by the Netflix series Toy Boy, which created a police station that appeared recurrently in the series there, while a little earlier Malaka (TVE) turned to the centre of Benajarafe. Confirmation of its on-screen interest also came with the blockbuster Kaos (Netflix), which booked the El Ingenio shopping centre to shoot some scenes involving the robbery of a supermarket.