To launch the facilities, Mexican multinational EFD, the successful bidder for the studios, plans to invest one million euros. The company has also deposited a guarantee of more than 300,000 euros and will pay a concession fee of 8.6 million euros. With these figures, the city council wants to ensure that the transformation of the former industrial site results in activity rather than being limited to the renovation of the buildings.
The schedule is becoming tighter. Work on Distrito 7, which covers more than 26,500 square meters and involves municipal investment of nearly 20 million euros, is expected to be handed over at the end of October. The next step will be to bring the different spaces into operation and begin attracting productions.
NEW LIFE FOR THE FORMER GIESA FACILITY
"The aim is to be able to start operations by January 2027 at the latest," Zaragoza Mayor Natalia Chueca said this week during a visit to the construction site. The city council also hopes that EFD’s presence will attract filming and productions from elsewhere and put the city on the map for major audiovisual projects.
The studios will be one part of a much larger complex. Distrito 7 will also include spaces for businesses and entrepreneurship, audiovisual training facilities and the new headquarters of the Zaragoza Film Library, whose first screening is also scheduled for January. The aim is to bring together different stages of audiovisual activity in the same space, from professional training to production.
Another step will be taken in the coming weeks with the tender for spaces intended for businesses and entrepreneurship, while training will be addressed in the final quarter of the year. The former Giesa site is thus entering the final phase of a transformation aimed at turning more than 26,500 square meters of industrial heritage into a new hub for production, culture and employment in Zaragoza.
