Arka Mukhopadhyay
Generally known for his horror ventures, Spanish filmmaker Jaume Balagueró spawns a riveting heist thriller with ‘The Vault.’ The film centers on a group of experts led by entrepreneur and collector Walter Moreland, who attempt to break into an unbreakable locker in the Bank of Spain. After years of research, Walter finally locates the fabled chest of Sir Francis. The Spanish government intervenes by usurping the chest from Walter and putting it in the Bank of Spain.
The rest of the story of ‘The Vault’ chronicles the seemingly impossible mission in the backdrop of a festive and football-crazed Spain. Most of the story unfolds in the Spanish capital city of Madrid. If you want to identify the locations where the movie was filmed, let us be your guide!
The Vault Filming Locations
‘The Vault’ was filmed in its entirety in Spain, especially in the central community of Madrid. The film’s story is almost exclusively set in the region, and the director chose to take his crew to the actual location for filming.
Madrid, Spain
‘The Vault’ was mostly filmed in and around the Spanish capital city of Madrid, part of the eponymous community. The initial aerial shots capture the historic city in its picturesque glory.
The majority of the sequences were filmed in various administrative buildings in the city. The production unit filmed scenes at the Junta Municipal del Distrito de Centro (Municipal Board of the Centro District), a government office located at 72 Calle Mayor, within the city’s central district.
In the prologue, Walter and his team retrieve Sir Francis’ crate in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain. They filmed the scenes on the research and survey vessel Garcia Del Cid.
Some shots were filmed at Junta Municipal del Distrito de Salamanca (Municipal Board of the Salamanca District), another administrative building situated at 40 Calle de Núñez de Balboa, in the city. Additional sequences were filmed in the district of Retiro, at the district administrative office, located at 2, Plaza de Daoíz y Velarde. The location presumably stood in for the British Intelligence Headquarters in the movie. Several scenes were captured in the municipality office of the Chamartín district of Madrid, located at 142, Calle del Príncipe de Vergara, in the same neighborhood.
Although a major location in the movie is the Bank of Spain, the production unit did not get a chance to film the sequences in the actual location. While the interior sequences could be filmed anywhere, the exterior shows the 19th-century architecture of Casa de América, a historical palace and cultural center located at Plaza Cibeles, s/n, in Madrid.
Other important filming locations include Consejería de Educación Comunidad de Madrid, a government office located at Calle de Alcalá, 32, and the adjacent Secretaría de Estado de Educación, at Calle de Alcalá, 34 – both located in the city. Some sequences were filmed in the suburban township of Paracuellos de Jarama, in the same Community of Madrid. The town is remembered in national history for it being the site of the infamous Paracuellos massacre of 1936.
In the movie, Thom graduates from the elite Cambridge University. The sequences were filmed at the Somosaguas Campus of Universidad Complutense de Madrid (pictured above), an educational complex located at Campus de Somosaguas, s/n, in the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcón within the community of Madrid.
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