The Tourism Department is already working to position Calpe as a destination for film and advertising shoots. The municipality has been the scene of several productions, from the footage of the Graf Zeppelin aerostatic flight in the 1930s, the reports of "La Costa Blanca in 1958" and the perhaps less known filming in Calpe, especially around La Manzanera (Muralla Roja and Xanadu), made by the versatile director Jess Franco during the 60s and 70s. More recent productions confirm this trend, such as the filming of the series "Crematorio" in 2011, "Paraiso" in 2021, or the presence of a Bollywood crew in the old town in 2022.
The interest of production companies has skyrocketed with the rise of digital platforms in the last decade, reaching an unprecedented projection with the international repercussion achieved by the Red Wall and its appearance in several TV spots of well-known brands.
In 2017, the Diputación de Alicante created the Costa Blanca Film Commission, a film office whose aim is to facilitate the work of companies and professionals in the audiovisual sector who wish to film in our province. Calpe was integrated in this commission from the beginning. It is a network of offices in the province to facilitate filming for production companies, offering municipal information and advice services to all professionals in the audiovisual sector who wish to shoot in each municipality. Being part of this network allows more film and series shoots to be attracted, multiplying their visibility on national and international circuits.
In fact, by joining the Costa Blanca Film Office network, contacts have already been established with production companies working for platforms such as HBOMAX, NETFLIX, APPLE and AMAZON. The Department of Tourism believes that strengthening this line of work will attract off-season visitors, promote the local economy, project the image of the municipality and offer new employment opportunities due to the variety of services associated with the industry.
The Councillor for Tourism, Marco Bittner, believes that "in promoting this aspect we have an opportunity to deseasonalise visits thanks to the excellent climate of the area all year round. In addition, the number of unique locations and the accommodation capacity make Calpe a potential attraction for all types of filming. The Department of Tourism is already working on changes to the by-laws and protocols to facilitate filming and is preparing a portfolio of locations to attract audiovisual productions. We are studying the introduction of bonuses if the production helps to promote the image of Calpe, showing the iconic Peñón de Ifach in some shots of the work".