Inside the Basque Production Boom: Who Owns the Growth?

The Basque Country has become an increasingly attractive place to make films and television. In Bizkaia alone, audiovisual employment rose 50.5% between 2014 and 2024, while the number of companies linked to the sector climbed from 284 to 448. In 2025, the Bilbao Bizkaia Film Commission supported 219 shoots with an estimated economic impact of […] Basque producers debate ownership, IP, local talent and what remains as international film and TV production surges in the region. The Basque Country has become an increasingly attractive place to make films and television. In Bizkaia alone, audiovisual employment rose 50.5% between 2014 and 2024, while the number of companies linked to the sector climbed from 284 to 448.

In 2025, the Bilbao Bizkaia Film Commission supported 219 shoots with an estimated economic impact of €138.1 million ($158.45 million). The boom has also complicated a simple question: What, exactly, is a Basque production? Is it a project that shoots in the territory, one backed by a Basque company, one made in Euskara, or one whose creative control, intellectual property and long-term economic value remain there? For Xabi Berzosa of San Sebastian-based Irusoin, the legal answer is relatively simple. “From a legal standpoint, if a film is produced by a Basque production company, it’s Basque. That’s simply