The Community of Madrid beats the record for film and television filming in Metro facilities in 2022
Over 44 days, in which more than 1,500 professionals from the audiovisual industry took part. The underground has been the setting for 34 film recordings, series, adverts, documentaries and video clips. Halls, platforms and trains are some of the sets chosen by the great Spanish filmmakers
The Community of Madrid beat its record for film and television filming in Metro facilities in 2022. The Madrid underground has been the scene of 34 recordings of films, series, adverts, documentaries and video clips, compared to 31 the previous year, an increase of almost 10%. Of the total, six have been feature films, twelve TV series, seven adverts for national and international brands, three documentaries, three video clips and three photo shoots.
In the film section, the team of Reyes contra Santa shot some scenes in the abandoned tunnel at Goya and in the Chamberí station museum, while Los Reyes Magos: La Verdad was filmed at the underground premises in Canillejas.
Regarding series, titles from the main platforms such as Netflix, Atresmedia and HBO stand out. This is the case of 30 monedas, La que se avecina, Cardo and UPA NEXT; and among the adverts filmed, the campaigns of Givenchy Beauty and the fashion firm Calzedonia.
More than 1,500 professionals from the audiovisual industry, including actors, production staff, extras and cameramen, took part in these 34 shoots, which took place over 44 days.
The most requested locations for series, advertising and music have been the stations of Paco de Lucía (line 9), presided over by an impressive mural by Okuda and Rosh333 of the artist that gives it its name; the old Chamberí station, where a real journey through time takes place; the mysterious tunnels of Goya; the secret corridors of Noviciado, and the emblematic Gran Vía (where lines 1 and 5 converge).
The historical series of the last few years shows that in 2020, 17 shootings took place on the premises of this Madrid public company; 25 in 2019; 13 in 2018; 14 in 2017; 9 in 2016, and 18 in 2015. So far this year, filming has already begun on the Reina Roja series, among other titles.
METRO, FILM SET
Since 1919 –the year it was commissioned–, Metro has been one of the film sets chosen by the great Spanish filmmakers to shoot their films. Thanks to this, it has been possible to see the evolution of Madrid society, as well as the great transformation that the entrances to the underground, its halls, platforms and trains have undergone over time.
Although there are many titles linked in one way or another, Ópera Prima (1980) is perhaps one of the most relevant. It was the directorial debut of Fernando Trueba and, at the same time, the name of the –Ópera– station where the main character and his cousin meet by chance. Laberinto de pasiones (1982) is another film that uses the underground as a location for one of its scenes. In this case, Pedro Almodóvar places his star, Cecilia Roth, in Aluche station. Another example is Tiovivo C.1950 (2004), by José Luis Garci, in which the actress Elsa Pataky plays a box-office girl.
