The latest ad of the new Toyota Aygo, which was recorded in Plaça de la Font, was released last week. In it, we can see some customers that are being inadvertently recorded while becoming victims of a joke and, as a result of that, the real protagonists of the advertisement.
In recent years, ads, films and video clips, among other audio-visual productions, have experienced an outstanding growth in the city. Tarragona is a trendy set. In fact, a part from Barcelona and l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Tarragona has consolidated –for the third consecutive year– as the third Catalan city with the highest number of productions and shootings in a whole year. In this sense, the role played by the Tarragona Film Office, managed by Txell Roig, has become crucial.
From 2010, the moment when the Tarragona Film Office started managing the shootings and photo sessions in the city, the number of productions has increased from 19, in 2010, to 101, last year. The city became the set in 2014 for 21 TV series, 8 ads, 19 photo reports, 10 documentaries, 14 video clips, 5 cinema-fiction films and 2 documentary films.
Numbers speak for themselves. Despite this, one of the main aspects to Txell Roig is that, instead of simply paying attention to the actual number of recordings, we should take into account what is actually being recorded in the city. Thus, Tarragona has become the set for films with well-known actors, as well as for very relevant ads. For example, Segon Origen, initially directed by Bigas Luna before his death, and finished afterwards by Carles Porta; the actors Sergi López and Rachel Hurd-Wood recorded last year a number of sequences at Platja Llarga and a local campsite; and, finally, the director from Tarragona Anna Bofarull chose her city for the recording of Sonata per a violoncel, which includes renowned Spanish actors such as Juanjo Puigcorbé, Marina Salas, Montse Germán or Jan Cornet.
For what advertising is concerned, Tarragona become a key destination thanks to the ad of the fragrance The One Sport by Dolce & Gabbana, shot inside Tarraco’s Amphitheatre. This year, the very same spot has been chosen as the set for the latest ad for the Catalan beer Estrella Damm, tittled Entrena l’ànima (literally, train the soul). On the last days of 2014, Tarragona was again chosen as the main set for yet another key advertisement, this time for the crisps brand Lay’s, which included images of the Part Alta and the Cathedral, while telling the story behind the ringing of bells that is carried out every year on New Year’s Eve, dedicated to the will for peace in the world.
The most requested spots for shootings are the Amphitheatre, the Forum, the Circus and the Walls, Casa Castellarnau, and also the streets of Part Alta, the beaches, the so-called Vial Bryant, and the industrial area nearby the Port. However it is, Tarragona has become key to advertising agents, directors, and audio-visual producers, as an excellent recording set, equipped with a great variety of sceneries and resources. As one would imagine, this discovery is being translated into an economic growth in areas such as tourism and the restaurant and hotel industry.
Text: Ivan Rodon (@irodon on Twitter)
Translation: Artur Santos (@artur_1983 on Twitter)
