Malaga will host the 34th edition of the Goya Awards

The award ceremony will take place on January 25 at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace in the capital of the Costa del Sol. It is the third time that the awards will be held outside of Madrid.

The vice president of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, Rafael Portela, announced this Tuesday, together with the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Junta de Andalucía, Patricia del Pozo; the president of the Malaga Provincial Council, Francisco Salado, and the president of Unicaja Banco, Manuel Azuaga, that the capital of the Costa del Sol will host the 34th Goya Awards ceremony. The gala will be held on January 25 of 2020 at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace.

Portela stated that "it is an honor and a privilege to bring Goya to the city of museums. After discussing different proposals, and feeling very loved and welcomed in Seville last year, we have made the best decision, to come to Malaga, whose film festival in Spanish has been spreading love for the seventh art among its inhabitants for 22 years. In cinema and in life you have to go where you feel loved",

The vice president of the institution also announced that, prior to the awards ceremony, "the Andalusian city will host a series of activities such as exhibitions, screenings of nominated films... to culminate in what will be our big night."

At the press conference in which the agreement was signed between the four entities that equally support the event (Málaga City Council and Provincial Council, Junta de Andalucia and Unicaja Banco), and which took place in the Hall of Mirrors of the Malaga town hall, Portela cited some of the Malaga performers who have won the Goya (Miguel Herrán, Dani Rovira, Antonio de la Torre, Adelfa Calvo, María Barranco or Antonio Banderas) and described this year's crop of Spanish cinema as extraordinary. “This year our films have competed in Berlin, they have received awards in Cannes and they will also compete in Venice and San Sebastián,” he indicated.

Among other details, he announced that there will be “news” at the gala and that we will meet the nominees on December 2. Regarding the space that will host the event, the vice president of the Academy valued that, as it is a sports palace and not an auditorium, "this offers new possibilities to have the best possible gala."

Malaga, city of cinema

The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, thanked the Academy for its trust and reiterated its commitment to the culture of the Andalusian city, underlining that “it is a friendly terrain for Spanish cinema”, with the endorsement of its festival, “which has been on a path for 22 years, investing in a very special way with the protagonists of the industry”. De la Torre has highlighted “the cultural and economic importance of cinema”, and stated that hosting the Goya Awards Gala will mean “one more step in the fruitful relationship between Spanish cinema and Malaga, a capital committed to Spanish cinema and in Spanish”.

For her part, the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Government of Andalusia, Patricia del Pozo, highlighted that “cinema is a great support for Andalusia”, while the president of the Malaga Provincial Council, Francisco Salado, indicated that “the Goya gala is a very significant and important step in the very fruitful relationship of Malaga with Spanish cinema”. Manuel Azuaga, president of Unicaja Banco, was pleased to be able to support what is “one of the most important cultural events in Spain.”

For the third time in the history of the institution, the awards will be held outside of Madrid. The Goya Awards traveled outside the capital in the 14th edition, a gala hosted by L'Auditori de Barcelona and presented by Antonia San Juan, and in last year's event, a ceremony held in Seville and hosted by Silvia Abril and Andreu Buenafuente.

The press conference in which the announcement was made was attended by the director of the Malaga Film Festival in Spanish, Juan Antonio Vigar, whom both Rafael Portela and the councilor of Malaga thanked for his efforts and complicity in ensuring that the Goyas take place in the capital of the Costa del Sol.