Audiovisual narrative and image digitization as a phenomenon of tourist attraction in the city of Madrid. Money Heist as a generator of tourism emotionally and culturally linked to the urban spaces depicted in the series

Abstract

Discovering cities through the images of television series has come about, among other factors, because of the use of urban spaces and their buildings as essential support elements in fictional narrative. Places and settings that are more or less well-known, emblematic, or anonymous scenes in which individuals are diluted in locations that are easily recognizable and assimilated in different latitudes. These images, many of which are digitized and are the result of post-production, mark the development and innovation of different audiovisual television formats and their impact on the society of "platform users". They reach the spectator in the form of altered realities in locations and architectural structures that do not always correspond to the original, whether it be their real location or their real functions. This is what happens in Money Heist (Álex Pina, Netflix: 2017-2021) with the CSIC building, the Nuevos Ministerios building and other locations that are studied in this article. These are representations of elements which create the necessary interconnection and involvement between characters and viewers, and prompt the latter to go see where they are located. This is a visual artifice of cinema and television that enables the illusion of being in altered but somehow identifiable realities, which is why they are familiar and close, that is to say, credible. This is how screen tourism has been created, with tourists choosing their leisure destination based on the places they see in series on digital platforms. The paper’s findings indicate that the series Money Heist reconfigures the image of Madrid, imbuing it with a persona, and makes a significant contribution to the development of innovative experiential tourism. Moreover, the research work unearthed a predominantly favorable attitude amongst viewers towards prior exposure to television series such as Money Heist, which serves to attract visitors to Madrid through motivation and curiosity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

El acercamiento a las ciudades a través de la imagen televisiva en formato serie se ha producido -entre otros factores- porque la ficción ha recurrido a los espacios urbanos y a sus edificaciones como elementos de apoyo esenciales en la narración. Lugares y escenarios en mayor o en menor medida conocidos, emblemáticos, cuando no anónimas escenografías en las que se diluyen los individuos en situaciones fácilmente reconocibles y asimilables en diferentes latitudes. Las imágenes llegan al espectador en la forma de realidades trastocadas en emplazamientos y estructuras arquitectónicas que no siempre se corresponden con el original, ni en su ubicación ni en sus funciones reales. Es lo que ocurre en La casa de papel (Álex Pina, Netflix: 2017-2021) con el edificio del CSIC, el de Nuevos Ministerios y otras localizaciones que quedarán estudiadas en este artículo. Representaciones, al fin, de aquello que crea la necesaria interrelación y complicidad entre personajes y espectadores y que provocan que quieran conocer dónde se ubican. Un artificio visual del cine y de la televisión que permite la ilusión de estar en realidades suplantadas, pero, de alguna manera, identificables, de ahí que resulten familiares y cercanas, es decir, creíbles. Así es como se ha llegado a crear el turismo de pantalla que elige su destino de ocio por los lugares que ven en series de plataformas digitales. Y Madrid juega ese papel protagonista en el caso de la serie La casa de papel, ficción que a través del lenguaje audiovisual, caracterizado por sus códigos múltiples, ha creado un fuerte vínculo emocional entre espectador y ciudad.