The City Council of La Orotava has received this month six requests to shoot in the municipality, a figure that can also “be extrapolated to other months, although it is true that during the winter there is not so much demand”, confirmed to this newspaper the mayor of Tourism and Historical Heritage, Delia Escobar, whose Department is in charge of managing the authorizations in coordination with the Tenerife Film Commission.
To them are added other recordings that, as they take place on private property, do not require any type of permission from the Consistory. This is the case of Montecristo, the series starring the popular American actor of Cuban origin William Levy, which these days is being shot at the San Miguel estate, on Carretera de La Luz, a property of singular beauty that was part of a mayorazgo founded in the 16th century by the captain alderman Miguel de Franchi y Forte.
The protagonist of the recent adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Café con aroma de mujer, also has the main role in the fictional series that revisits the literary classic by Alejandro Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, which is also joined by the Spaniards Roberto Enríquez, Silvia Abascal and Juan Fernández, as well as the Mexican actress Esmeralda Pimentel. These data have emerged on social networks since the filming is subject, as usual, to confidentiality clauses and total discretion.
The Spanish audiovisual production company Secuoya Studios, together with Sergio Pizzolante, Jeff Goldberg and Levy himself, produces this thriller, whose filming will also take place in other parts of Spain.
Delia Escobar assured that there are many companies that have already requested permission to record in the Villa, not only feature films, but also short films, advertising spots and photography for marketing of international companies such as Yves Saint Laurent, who this year shot part of his new announcement on the beach of El Bollullo.
“We are very satisfied with the results obtained and the increase that has occurred in recent years,” said the mayor. In this sense, she considered that the bonuses that have been made in the rate of occupation of public roads for this type of projects “have favored this increase.”
Added to this are the “peculiarities” offered by La Orotava, “a municipality that attracts due to the aesthetics of the historic complex and the difference in landscape throughout the entire municipal geography, from the coast to the town center, passing through the medianías and the Teide National Park”, he underlined.
“This allows producers to have a huge variety in a short time and I think it is one of the strengths of the municipality,” added Delia Escobar. As most significant experiences, the mayor recalled the filming of Temperance, a television adaptation of the novel by María Dueñas, starring Leonor Watling and Rafael Novoa, which between June and August 2019 was located in the historic center of the Villa.
Repercussion
“The filming had a significant social and economic impact, because many people were hired to act as extras, municipal companies, from transport and logistics to catering, and generated a lot of economy and promotion for La Orotava. That is why we give all possible facilities, because we understand that it is a very big opportunity”, said Delia Escobar.
