Spain Named MIPCOM Country of Honor

MIPCOM CANNES will see Spain as the Country of Honor at the forthcoming 40th edition, taking place October 21 to 24.

The event will feature a program highlighting Spain’s significant growth in recent years as a major international production hub and provider of quality content to global audiences.

The program is curated by MIPCOM CANNES in partnership with ICEX Spain Trade & Investment (public entity of the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business). The Country of Honour activity forms part of the “Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe” plan, a five-year €1.6 billion public investment initiative targeting a 30 percent rise in audiovisual production in the country by 2025 within the framework of the Recovery Plan, transformation and resilience funded by NextGenerationUE.

“The Country of Honour is a celebration of a country’s culture and creativity,” said Lucy Smith, director of MIPCOM CANNES and MIP LONDON. “Spain’s historical impact on international television is irrefutable and its prominence on the global stage in recent years inescapable. It could not be timelier for Spain to be in the spotlight this year and we have some very special plans in the works to do so spectacularly.”

Pablo Conde, director general for internationalization at ICEX, said: “Supporting the internationalization of Spanish audiovisual companies has a clear objective for us: to expand the opportunities for producing and distributing their projects abroad. We do this by promoting their visibility, creating networking opportunities for our companies with international partners, and facilitating co-production. Being the Country of Honor at MIPCOM CANNES in 2024 will certainly promote these three fundamental aspects. Moreover, it will bring the perfect opportunity to celebrate the excellence, creativity and professionalism of Spain’s content industry.”

María González Veracruz, Spain’s secretary of state for telecommunications and digital infrastructure, said: “Spain being chosen as the Country of Honor at the upcoming edition of MIPCOM CANNES is jumping into the front line of entertainment and audiovisual creation at the international level. This spotlight will illuminate the talent, strength and duende of our industry. It is a leap that can only be good for our companies, the industry’s employment, talent and creativity. Because we can only jump out if we have our feet firmly rooted. That is what we are pursuing with the Spain Audiovisual Hub Plan: to consolidate the progress achieved so far, and to ensure that the audiovisual sector continues to be powerful, strategic and has a bright future.”