The Barcelona Auditorium will host the 2026 Goya Awards gala on February 28

The Film Academy has confirmed that the 40th edition of the Goya Awards It will take place next February 28, 2026 in the Auditorium of the International Convention Center of Barcelona.

The announcement took place at an event held at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya in which the president of the Film Academy, Fernando Méndez-Leite, together with his mayor, Jaume Collboni; the Minister of Culture, Sonia Hernandez, and the vice president of the institution, Rafael Portela. "Four decades have passed since that first gala. And twenty-five years since the Goyas traveled to Barcelona for the first time, in 2000. Returning here, on this very symbolic date, is much more than a gesture. It is a profound recognition of a city that breathes cinema," commented Méndez-Leite himself, who stressed that for the institution it is "quite an honor" to travel to the Catalan capital.

In his speech, the president of the Academy highlighted that Catalonia has been and is “essential” for Spanish cinematography. “Our story cannot be told without its scriptwriters, pointing out, directors, technicians, actors and actresses, and its schools,” he explained, underlining the “indisputable” presence of professionals from all branches of the sector at the Goya Awards throughout its history in an event attended by the performers. Laia Marull, Angela Cervantes y Pol Manyen; the filmmakers Jose Corbacho, Kike Maíllo y Pol Rodríguez; the producers Valerie Delpierre, Tono Folguera, Edmon Roch, and the filmmaker and president of the Catalan Film Academy, Judith Colell.

The statements of the counselor of Culture, who assured that for the Generalitat, cinema is a "strategic" sector and that hosting the 2026 Goya Awards in Barcelona shows "a recognition of the strength, talent and dynamism of our audiovisual industry. We are very proud of Catalan cinema, which is experiencing a sensational moment," he said. For its part, Jaume Collboni, showed his satisfaction and gratitude to the Academy for having chosen Barcelona “at a time of emergence and recognition of Catalan cinema by the sector and critics, but, above all, by the public.”

Barcelona, focused on the Goya 2026

During the event it was announced that, in the weeks prior to the celebration of the 40th edition of the Goya Awards, the city will host a large activity program open to citizens. An urban exhibition starring Catalan and Catalan winners; a “walk of fame” with large-format photographs of all the Catalan winners of the 39 editions of the Goya, and screenings of nominated films with the presence of their protagonists, who will share meetings with the public and will be part of a broad program of activities for citizens to enjoy the magic of cinema before the celebration of the gala.

The program will also include social and educational initiatives, such as film sessions aimed at children, young people and groups in vulnerable situations, as well as proposals to bring the Goya Awards to the streets: from giant Goya Awards that will be located in different parts of the city to a photocall at the City Hall headquarters, in which citizens will be able to take photos with a Goya Award. The public will also be able to participate in special meetings with the Goya of Honor, Gonzalo Suárez, and with the International Goya.

Gonzalo Suárez, Goya of Honor 2026

The Academy has taken the opportunity to announce that at the Barcelona event the honorary award will be recognized for Gonzalo Suarez, whose career is “linked to the city, the setting for dozens and dozens of cinema films from around the world,” in the words of Méndez-Leite. The Board of Directors of the Academy decided, unanimously, to grant this honorary award to the veteran Asturian filmmaker for "a career from which he has developed a surprising filmography, in which he has experimented with all genres and from all attitudes, having shot experimental cinema, commercial cinema and literary adaptations of his own and those of others. A key man in Spanish culture of the last sixty years, he is, in addition, an undoubted reference of intelligence and sense of humor."

Director, screenwriter, producer, writer, sports journalist and actor, has a filmography in which experimentation and storytelling go hand in hand in the more than 20 feature films he has signed. Ditirambo, The Strange Case of Doctor Fausto, La Regenta, Morbo, Parranda, the mythical Epilogue –Cannes Festival Youth Prize–, Rowing in the wind –Silver Shell and Goya for Best Direction–, The anonymous queen, The detective and death, My name is shadow y Oviedo Express are some of the titles by Gonzalo Suárez, who has been publishing books since 1963 and since 1966 directing films starring Charo López, Francisco Rabal, José Sacristán, Fernando Rey, Fernando Fernán-Gómez, Carmen Maura, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes, Maribel Verdú, Javier Bardem, Carmelo Gómez, Ana Belén, José Luis Gómez, Carmen Sevilla, Hugh Grant, María de Medeiros, Héctor Alterio and Donald Pleasence, among many others.

Gonzalo Suarez received the National Cinematography Award 1991, the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts Arts and the Luis Buñuel Award, and has been named Knight of Arts and Letters of France and of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise. "I am very happy about this award because it covers all my work, although I feel longing that I am not caught making films. I would like to say 'action' and 'cut' again because cinema is action," he commented in statements to the Film Academy itself upon hearing the news.