The Bizkaia film tax credit, explained without flourish.

The rate depends on how much you spend in Bizkaia.

Four bands, set by the share of total production spend incurred in Bizkaia. The figures below are the statutory rates published in the Norma Foral — they are the same for domestic and international productions.

The Euskera bonus applies when the work is produced entirely in Basque as its source language. Combined with all other grants the total public support cannot exceed 50% of the global production cost — 60% for European co-productions, with no ceiling for co-productions with countries on the OECD Development Assistance Committee list.

What the law actually says.

Legal framework

Bizkaia is one of the three historical territories of the Basque Country. Its tax sovereignty is recognised by the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy, so it legislates on direct taxation independently of the national framework. The audiovisual incentive is set by Norma Foral 9/2022, of 23 November, which updated and extended the cultural tax credits in force in the territory. The rates above apply to fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2023.

Who can claim it

Legal entities — production companies and executive producers — with registered office in Bizkaia. There is no nationality requirement for the director, cast or creative team. A producer based outside Bizkaia accesses the incentive through a co-production agreement or executive production arrangement with a Bizkaia-registered entity.

How the deduction works

The credit offsets corporate tax liability. Unlike Article 36 of the national Corporate Tax Act, the Bizkaia regime does not impose a fixed cap per production and allows the deduction to offset up to 100% of the company's tax liability. Any portion that cannot be applied because the liability is too small can be carried forward to the following financial years for up to 30 years.

Eligible expenses

Direct production expenses incurred in Bizkaia — crew fees, location and equipment rental, accommodation, catering, post-production services and other documented production costs. The auditable trail of these expenses is the basis on which the rate is calculated.

Cultural certificate

The work must obtain a certificate of cultural nature issued by the Spanish ICAA, by an Autonomous Community body or by an equivalent body in another EU or EEA member state. The application is administrative and runs in parallel with development and pre-production.

The Bizkaia credit is compatible with the rest of the public stack.

ICAA selective and automatic grants, Eurimages, Ibermedia and Creative Europe MEDIA can be combined with the Bizkaia credit, within the EU state-aid intensity limits noted above. Each instrument has its own application calendar and eligibility criteria; what the Bizkaia credit does is anchor the financing plan with a verifiable contribution from the first conversation.

Local stakeholders — Etxepare Basque Institute for international promotion, Zineuskadi and Basque Audiovisual for sector coordination, the Bilbao Bizkaia Film Commission for permits and location liaison — complete the institutional map. None of them are funding sources by themselves, but they affect how a production lands in the territory.

We are a co-producer, not a service company.

Elcano Films, S.L. is registered in Bizkaia. We act as local co-producer or executive producer on international projects, providing the legal structure required to access the credit and contributing the creative participation, local relationships and crew knowledge that an honest co-production needs. Our financing model is built on the 50/50 principle described in our investors page: roughly half the budget from public incentives, roughly half from international financing partners. The credit is a structural component, not a contingency.

How we finance our slate → Our manifesto →

• Can a UK or US producer access the credit directly?

  No. The credit is granted to entities with registered office in Bizkaia. A foreign producer accesses it through a co-production agreement or executive production arrangement with a Bizkaia-registered entity. Elcano Films provides this structure.

• Does the credit apply to series, animation and documentary?

  Yes. The Norma Foral applies to feature films, short films, television series, animation, documentaries and new digital formats. The same rate structure applies in each case.

• Is a bilateral co-production treaty required?

  No. There is no treaty requirement to access the Bizkaia credit. What is required is a co-production agreement with a Bizkaia-registered entity and compliance with the local-spend thresholds for the desired rate.

• What if my project is not in Basque?

  Most projects are not. The base rates (35% – 60%) apply regardless of language. The +10% bonus is an option for projects produced entirely in Basque — a creative decision, not a requirement.

• What happens if our corporate tax liability is smaller than the credit?

  The unused portion is carried forward to the following financial years, for up to 30 years under the foral regime. That is significantly longer than the carry-forward window in the national scheme.

• When should we start the conversation?

  As early as possible. The structural decisions — co-production agreement, spend distribution, cultural certificate, financing stack — all benefit from being modelled at script stage rather than retrofitted during pre-production.