Spain vs Portugal vs Morocco: where to shoot a brand campaign in 2026

None of the three countries' film incentives applies to advertising. Spain's Article 36.2 rebate covers feature films and audiovisual series — fiction, animation and documentary. Portugal's Pic Portugal cash rebate covers cinema, audiovisual and VOD works with a €500,000 minimum spend for fiction and animation and €250,000 for documentary and post-production. Morocco's CCM rebate requires a minimum spend of 10 million dirhams — roughly €0.9–1 million at current rates — and at least 18 shooting days. Commercials appear on none of the eligible lists. If you are choosing a country for a TVC or a content campaign on the basis of a rebate, you are choosing on a criterion that does not apply to you.

What actually decides the comparison for a brand campaign is duller and more useful: how deep the crew pool is, how long a permit takes, whether your equipment clears customs without a carnet, how far your talent and clients have to travel, and how many usable shooting days the weather gives you in the window you have. On those five, Spain wins for most European and US brand work, Portugal wins on cost for smaller units, and Morocco wins only when you specifically need desert, kasbah or Sahara and have the schedule to absorb the logistics.

The comparison that applies

Figures reviewed August 2026. The euro value of Morocco's dirham-denominated minimum moves with the exchange rate.

Where the incentive actually does matter

Three kinds of brand-adjacent project can reach an incentive, and it is worth knowing which one you are in before you discount the idea entirely.

Long-form brand documentary. Documentary is eligible in Spain and Portugal. A genuine documentary work — not a nine-minute brand film with a documentary aesthetic — can qualify, subject to a cultural certificate in Spain and cultural scoring in Portugal. Portugal's €250,000 floor is the lowest entry point of the three.

Animation. Spain drops the minimum Spanish spend to €200,000 for animation. Portugal treats animation on the €500,000 fiction track.

Visual effects and post. Spain applies 30% to visual effects services with the €1 million floor disapplied when Spanish spend falls below it, capped at €10 million per production, and with no cultural certificate required for VFX-only work. Portugal's €250,000 post floor is comparable in spirit. For a brand doing substantial CGI or generated work attached to a qualifying production, this is the accessible route — not the shoot.

Everything else — commercials, social campaigns, product films, fashion films, brand content — budgets without a rebate in all three countries.

Customs is the line item people forget

Spain and Portugal are EU and Schengen. Equipment and crew move from anywhere in the EU with no carnet, no customs broker and no clearance day in the schedule. A German or French production can drive a grip truck to Valencia and start shooting the next morning.

Morocco is not. Every piece of equipment needs an ATA carnet, a customs agent and a clearance window on both legs. Budget for the agent and a contingency day. Moroccan service companies do this every week, but it is a cost and a schedule item that does not exist on the Iberian side, and it is the most common reason a Morocco budget lands above what the day rates suggested.

Non-EU productions face the carnet question in all three. US, UK and Gulf productions should raise it at bid stage, not at prep.

Cost, honestly

Day rates in Portugal sit below Spain, and Spain below the UK, Germany, the US and the Gulf for comparable crew and kit. But the day rate is not the budget. What decides a job is total cost for the schedule you actually need:

• A one-to-three day unit, single location, small crew: Portugal is usually cheapest and the difference is real.

• A multi-location shoot, or one needing depth on any department — casting, art, automotive, stunts, large lighting packages: Spain usually wins on total cost, because the alternative in a thinner market is flying people in, and travel and accommodation erase a day-rate advantage in two days.

• Anything needing desert or Sahara: Morocco, and the logistics premium is the price of the look.

Valencia, specifically

Most foreign producers arrive with Madrid and Barcelona on the list and stop there. Valencia is the third option and the underpriced one: the same Mediterranean register Barcelona trades on — sea, historic centre, modernist facades, brutalist concrete at the Ciutat de les Arts, working port, with orange groves, mountain, dunes and salt lagoon inside an hour's drive — on a different municipal cost structure.

The commercial filming fee is €2.33 per square metre per week, and the ordinance allows a 100% reduction where the city appears significantly in the finished piece, is shown positively for its cultural or tourist value, or where the crew lodges in Valencia with substantial local contracting. Beaches carry no fee at all, only a refundable deposit.

Weather windows

The Spanish Mediterranean coast gives usable daylight most of the year, which is why northern European brands relocate winter shoots there. July and August bring coastal heat above 35 °C, a holiday period that thins crew and slows municipal offices, and an Easter week that is closed for administration. Portugal's Atlantic coast is cooler and greyer in winter — a real difference for beach and swimwear work. Morocco's desert is unusable in midsummer and excellent from October to April.

FAQ

Can I get a film tax rebate for a commercial in Spain, Portugal or Morocco?
No. Spain's Article 36.2 rebate, Portugal's Pic Portugal cash rebate and Morocco's CCM rebate all cover cinema and audiovisual works — fiction, animation and documentary. Advertising is not an eligible category in any of the three.

Which country is cheapest for a brand shoot?
Portugal usually has the lowest day rates, and for a small single-location unit that translates into the lowest total cost. For multi-location shoots or anything needing depth in casting, art department or automotive, Spain is usually cheaper overall because a thinner market means flying people in.

Do I need an ATA carnet to bring equipment into Spain?
Not from within the EU — equipment and crew move freely. Non-EU productions need a carnet for Spain, Portugal and Morocco alike. Morocco additionally requires a customs agent and a clearance window in the schedule on both legs.

What is the minimum spend for the Portuguese cash rebate?
€500,000 in eligible Portuguese spend for fiction and animation, and €250,000 for documentary and post-production. The base rate is 25%, rising to 30% on cultural scoring and 40% in low-density territories.

How long do filming permits take in Spain?
Barcelona can issue simplified authorisations within 24 hours and standard permits in 5 to 10 working days. Madrid takes 7 to 15 working days. Valencia's ordinance states 30 calendar days, though the València Film Office works to about 10 working days in practice, and five for notified activities. Its commercial filming fee can be reduced by up to 100% when the city appears in the finished piece or the crew lodges there.

Is Morocco worth it for a fashion or product campaign?
Only if the look requires it. For desert, kasbah and Atlas backdrops nothing on the Iberian peninsula substitutes. For studio, product, urban or coastal work, the customs and travel overhead buys you nothing.

Phocus Creators is a production company based in Valencia that runs shoots across Spain for foreign brands, agencies and production companies — advertising, fashion, automotive and content work, which is to say the work no rebate covers and that still has to be produced somewhere. Send the brief and the window and you get a Spanish budget, a permit timeline and an honest answer on whether Spain is the right country for it: contact@phocuscreators.com.

Reviewed August 2026. Incentive rules change; confirm with your adviser before committing budget.

Sources

• Agencia Tributaria — Deducción por producciones cinematográficas extranjeras, art. 36.2 LIS

• ICAA, Ministerio de Cultura — Incentivos fiscales en España

• ICA — Cash Rebate, Portugal

• Portugal Film Commission — Incentive to film recording and production

• Centre Cinématographique Marocain — Support for foreign productions

• València Film Office — Filming FAQ and fees