Barcelona to host Spain's 2026 Goya Awards ceremony

Barcelona will be the host city of Spain's major cinema awards in 2026, the Goya Awards, as announced on Tuesday morning.

The 2026 edition of the gala will return to the Catalan capital after hosting it in 2000 at the city's Auditori. Back then, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar won the Best Film award with 'All About My Mother.'

“The celebration was much more modest back then, although it was a very brilliant gala,” said the president of the Academy, Fernando Méndez-Leite, after the announcement.

After Barcelona in 2000, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars returned to Madrid, where it had been celebrated for decades. Then, it moved to other major Spanish cities, including Seville, Malaga, and Valencia. Last year, it was celebrated in Granada.

“25 years after the Goyas were last celebrated in Barcelona, we’re returning to a city united by cinema,” said Méndez-Leite.

He added that the Catalan capital is “famous around the world, and undoubtedly offers the necessary infrastructure to host an event of this magnitude.”

Next year’s Goya will mark its 40th edition. The event comes at a time of resurgence for Catalan cinema, as recently, Catalan director Oliver Laxe’s production Sirât won the Cannes Film Festival's Jury Prize.

Last September, filmmaker Albert Serra took home the Golden Shell at San Sebastián with the documentary 'Afternoons of Solitude,' and three years ago, Carla Simón received the Golden Bear in Berlin for 'Alcarràs.'

The 2024 edition of the Goya Awards was also marked by Catalan cinema. Back then, the Catalan movie 'El 47,' directed by Marcel Barrena, won the Best Film Award. 

Barcelona will host the 40th awards ceremony, which saw its first edition in Madrid in 1987.

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From his visit to Japan, Catalan President Salvador Illa celebrated the news that Barcelona will host the 2026 Goya Awards. 

“This is positive news,” Illa told the press on Tuesday, adding that it comes at a “good and promising” time for Catalan cinema, which is receiving awards and drawing audiences to the theaters. 

The president also said that the news will support the Catalan government’s strategy to strengthen the Tres Xemeneies technological and audiovisual hub, located just outside of Barcelona. 

In a statement, Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, said that the celebration will “give a new push” to the city’s audiovisual sector.

Collboni added, “Spanish cinema is once again turning its gaze to Barcelona, which was the cradle of its beginnings and a major hub of film production for decades, at a time when films made in the city are gaining growing recognition and enjoying a strong presence on the international stage."

Together with the Catalan government, the Barcelona City Council will provide all the necessary institutional support to ensure the success of the 2026 Goya Awards, and “strengthen the audiovisual ecosystem in Barcelona and Catalonia.”

Additionally, Collboni noted that next year’s event “is an honor for the city.”