Netflix is to invest €1bn in Spain over the next four years, according to the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Sarandos announced the investment figure on a visit today to Netflix’s production hub Tres Cantos on the outskirts of Madrid to mark the streamer’s 10th anniversary in the country.
He was joined by Spain’s president Pedro Sanchez and the minister for digital transformation Oscar Lopez at Tres Cantos.
Spain has become a significant production base for Netflix. Sarandos said the streamer had produced more than 1,000 Spanish titles since 2017, flagging series such as its first Spanish original Cable Girls as well as JA Bayona’s feature Society Of The Snow, series Elite and Money Heist, and the upcoming Billionaires Bunker from Alex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato.
Sarandos said that Spanish titles had generated over five billion hours of viewing on Netflix last year.
He added the streamer had helped support more than 20,000 jobs in the Spanish audiovisual sector, and had filmed in more than 200 cities and towns in the country.
Streamers such as Netflix are keen to emphasise the amount of content they produce in European countries such as Spain.
It comes as many European countries, concerned about the growth of US-owned streaming services at the expense of public service broadcasters, are introducing investment obligations or streamer levies to mandate spend on European content. Spain obliges streamers to invest 5% of their turnover in the country into European titles.
“After 10 fantastic years, we want to further our long-term commitment to Spain,” said Sarandos, announcing the investment.
Tres Cantos, which has 10 sound stages, is Netflix’s largest filming base in the European Union. The streamer also leases Shepperton Studios in the UK.