Big‑budget franchises use Spain for palaces and desert chases, but some of the most interesting screen moments happen in quieter corners and smaller productions. These offbeat films and series highlight lesser‑known cult films and TV locations in Spain, using sites that don’t always make the tourist brochures. This makes a nice change to the famous film locations in Spain that hog the limelight.
The Others – a haunted Channel Islands mansion made in Spain
Nicole Kidman wandering through candlelit corridors in The Others (2001) feels very “English ghost story”, yet the film was largely made in Spain. Alejandro Amenábar shot the interiors in studios and used locations in Cantabria and the Madrid region for the exteriors of that isolated, fog‑wrapped house.
The Atlantic light and constant half‑mist you see outside the windows are Spanish weather doing an excellent imitation of gloomy Channel Islands drizzle.
Key locations
- Los Hornillos Palace, in Las Fraguas, Cantabria
30 Coins (30 monedas)– cursed villages and church horror
Álex de la Iglesia’s 30 Coins (2020- ) takes that classic “creepy priest in a small town” idea and turns it up several notches. The series follows a disgraced exorcist priest exiled to a remote Spanish village where absolutely nothing is fine.
A lot of the exterior shots were filmed in the Madrid region and Castilla y León. The supposed “middle of nowhere” is actually within day‑trip distance of Madrid, so the cast could go home at night instead of staying in a horror‑movie parador.
Key locations
- Pedraza (Segovia, Castilla y León) – the main village where most of the series’ exteriors were filmed
- Buitrago de Lozoya (Community of Madrid) – additional medieval walls and streets used for some scenes
The Blacklist – an American thriller sneaking into Spanish streets
On the surface, The Blacklist (2013–2024) is pure Washington‑and‑New‑York drama, but by the later seasons, the production quietly slipped over to Spain for some of its “mysterious European” scenes.
Buitrago de Lozoya pops up again, this time as an anonymous old‑world backdrop for chases and double‑crosses. The fun bit is that the same town has now hosted medieval epics, horror series and an American crime thriller without most viewers ever clocking it.
Key locations
- Buitrago de Lozoya – fortress walls and stone alleys dressed as “generic Europe”
- Country roads in the Madrid region are used for roadside confrontations and stakeouts
Asteroid City – Wes Anderson’s desert built in Spain
Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023) looks like it should smell of hot tarmac and diner coffee somewhere in mid‑century Arizona, but the pastel‑coloured desert town was actually built in Spain.
The production used open landscapes around Chinchón and the wider Community of Madrid to construct the entire set. One of the running jokes among film nerds is that Europeans can now stand in a “Wes Anderson desert” with a bocadillo in hand and still be home in time for a late Spanish dinner.
Key locations
- Rural land between Colmenar de Oreja and Chinchón, where the town set was built
Warrior Nun – comic‑book chaos in Andalusian cloisters
Warrior Nun (2020–2022) came and went on Netflix quite quickly, then quietly turned into a bit of a cult favourite online. The premise is gloriously over the top: orphaned teen, secret order of demon‑fighting nuns, ancient conspiracies, a lot of running through churches.
The producers used Málaga, Seville and Córdoba for a mix of cloisters, courtyards and backstreets, often passing them off as vaguely European rather than specifically Spanish.
Key locations
- Real Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor in Antequera is the headquarters of the Order of the Cruciform Sword
- La Térmica centre in Malaga posed as the orphanage
Summer Rain (El camino de los ingleses) – Banderas’ melancholy Málaga
Directed by Antonio Banderas, Summer Rain (2006) is a hazy, slightly melancholy look at 1970s Málaga, following a group of teenagers through humid nights, cinema obsessions and slightly dodgy life choices.
Outside Spain, it slipped under the radar, but among Banderas fans, it sits in that interesting “personal passion project” category.
Key locations
- Málaga’s historic centre, especially around Calle San Agustín and the cathedral
- Malaga's La Malagueta beach and Guadalmar beach
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