The change of location Fuerteventura to Tenerife of the series Los Anillos del Poder, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, has been the trigger for a situation that has been installed in the Cabildo Majorero for months. Obtaining permits for film and advertising shoots has become a torment for production companies Canary Islands, which generate wealth, jobs and free international promotion of the Island and the Canary Islands. The slowness in responding to requests on time -and most of the time in a negative way- is exhausting the patience of the companies that are engaged in this business, who are choosing to work on other islands where there is more speed and facility for attracting productions, such as Tenerife or Gran Canaria. And that in the event that the firms decide to stay in the Canary Islands, because the uncertainty in the security that the productions can be carried out causes clients to lean towards other destinations such as the south of Spain, Portugal or South Africa, although the Islands are an appetizing morsel for large filming and fashion firms due to its climate, its diverse landscapes and unbeatable tax incentives derived from the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF).
“Productions are lost and it’s a shame”, agree the companies in the sector and, above all, in some islands where the audiovisual industry is playing a strategic role in the diversification of the Canarian economy. In fact, the Prime Minister, Angel Victor Torres, This week he showed his chest from the boom of the audiovisual industry in the Archipelago at the end of 2022. The filming of films, series and animation productions represented an investment of 224 million euros, an increase of 128% compared to 2021, and the generation of 15,300 direct jobs with a very young and quality profile. These data did not include advertising.
Advertising companies warn that firms choose to go to the south of Spain or South Africa
But advertising is essential in this industry, because a film shoot can lead to hundreds of jobs in a few months, however, the smaller companies that are dedicated to advertising production, work throughout the year with international firms, generating jobs , promotion of the Islands and benefits for adjacent services, such as transport, hotels or restaurants. In Gran Canaria alone, and according to data from the Island’s Film Commission, in 2022 10 major feature films were shot, which resulted in 5,406 hiring, and 90 advertising productions with 1,174 hiring. And why this difference between advertising and cinema? Because when it comes to issuing permits in Fuerteventura, everyone is put in the same bag, the SMEs that advertise world-renowned brands complain, that they are shoots of several days or weeks and that do not modify the landscape, while the productions Movie theaters move hundreds of people and require unique scenery. Although everything is welcome.
For this reason, advertising SMEs demand different treatment when it comes to granting permits, because projects not only arrive from one day to the next -films have more time- but they are productions in places that do not alter the landscape, and also They clean before taking photos and after. But permits are denied, while tourists, as in the Corralejo dunesthey walk at ease and, in many cases, without that environmental care, specify the companies consulted.
This question has already transcended into the political arena. Both the CC and the PP require the president of the Cabildo, Sergio Lloretthat he give explanations about the lack of management that has motivated the resignation of the production company that was going to make the series Los anillos del Poder, and of the advertising companies that are desperate because the permits do not arrive when they already have models on the island and internationally recognized artistic photographers.
It seems that the instability policy in it Fuerteventura Town Hall the denial of permits has been accommodated. Sergio Lloret, of the Municipal Assemblies of Fuerteventura (AMF), has governed since December in a minority, with the sole support of his party mate, Juan Nicolás Cabrera. The Dreamland project, a movie theme park that was intended to be built on a 160,000-square-meter plot next to several protected areas, specifically, less than 500 meters from the dunes of corralejo, was one of the causes for the insular president to be ruling practically alone. This project was opposed by CC and PP. He Parliament of the Canary Islands he also rejected Dreamland. Now, filming in the Corralejo dunes or in protected areas, where permits were issued before, is almost unfeasible.
The Canarian audiovisual cluster demands a one-stop shop to correct the bureaucratic entanglement
Regardless of the political connotations, the producers do not understand the hardening of the corporation in giving permits when they are asked for them, on top of that, well in advance. Not only do they answer late but with tangled legislative arguments alluding to the sensitivity of the special protection areas, where they have filmed before, and they are even introducing in the responses that the filming is done “for profit”.
The companies consulted understand the complaints of officials in relation to the fact that they have a lot of work and the files accumulate. But there are solutions.
The Audiovisual Cluster of the Canary Islands demands a single window for all procedures. «How is it possible that we do not have a minimum structure with all the permits that must be generated in the Archipelago? And it doesn’t matter which island it is”, says Jaime Sanz, a member of the cluster. It does not refer only to Fuerteventura but to the whole of the Canary Islands, because in order to shoot, permission must be requested from the town halls, councils, natural parks or Costas, which previously depended on the State and, since January, on the Government of the Canary Islandsafter the transfer of powers. The insular Film Commission are meeting with the Government of the Canary Islands to expedite the permits as much as possible and they aim to make them annual, so that companies work safely in specific protected spaces.
Antonio Olivera, Vice Minister of the Presidency, affirms that the Government is in line to solve this demand. A meeting has already been held after assuming the powers in Coasts with the Film Commission of the island councils to test the concerns of the sector, and, shortly, another technical meeting will take place to analyze and solve possible delays in granting permits. “We want to make permits as easy as possible,” Olivera emphasizes.
