Spain gets history lesson: crop of pricey pix take B.O. chances.(FILM/INTERNATIONAL)

MADRID

In 2006, Spain will discover whether size matters. The nation's powerful FAPAE producers association has launched an offensive to persuade the government to raise film tax breaks beyond currently negligible 5% write-offs.

Spain grabbed a 16% B.O. market share in 2005, per Culture Minister stats--its second-best performance since 1984, after 2001's 18%. But producers complain that without better tax breaks, Spain will never become a production hub like the U.K.

Despite a lack of government support, an armada of higher-budget historical pics--several with well-known English-speaking thesps--are planned in the next year:

* Viggo …