The Porvenir Tower on the Muñoz Ramonet estate will be the headquarters of the Film Academy

BarcelonaThe Torre Avenir, a building that forms part of the heritage complex designed by Enric Sagnier and bequeathed to the city of Barcelona by the industrialist Muñoz Ramonet, will become the headquarters of the Catalan Film Academy. The organization, founded 18 years ago, had been renting offices at the SGAE (Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers) headquarters. Now, for the first time, it will have its own permanent space, open to the public, where it can hold training sessions, presentations, meetings, and international screenings. "And even open-air cinema, in these wonderful gardens!" exclaimed Judith Colell, president of the Catalan Film Academy, standing in front of Muñoz Ramonet's stately home on Muntaner Street, where films such as [film titles missing] were shot. Snow White by Pablo Berger. The property that will house the Academy is adjacent to the main building - it had been the residence of the industrialist's mother - and is located at 26-28 Avenir Street.

The agreement was reached by the Board of Trustees of the Julio Muñoz Ramonet Foundation—currently chaired by the Councilor for Culture, Xavier Marcé, and primarily funded by the Barcelona City Council—with the City Council and the Catalan Government, which will jointly finance the comprehensive renovation of the building. Mayor Jaume Collboni estimated the cost at nearly 3 million euros. The ground floor will house common areas and a bar, while the two upper floors will contain the offices of the Academy and, presumably, other organizations. "It will be the home of Catalan cinema," declared Collboni, who emphasized the ease with which agreements on cultural matters are being reached with the Catalan Government "at this stage." For Regional Minister Sonia Hernández, it represents "a significant step forward" because it "opens the institution up to the public."

In 2021, Ada Colau's City Council decided to dedicate the Muñoz Ramonet complex to a multidisciplinary center for culture, art, and science. During Collboni's term, the plan was reconsidered, and it was decided to dedicate the main house to promoting the essence of the Muñoz Ramonet legacy, that is, showcasing the house (which requires extensive renovations, postponed until the next term) and the art collection.which is the subject of a long legal dispute(for nearly 30 years, with the daughters of the businessman), and to dedicate the second house to the promotion of culture. This is the first step. Until now, only the gardens designed by landscape architect Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier had been opened to the public in 2016. The complex covers 4,131 m2 and is listed as a property with elements of interest.

The public company BIMSA will be in charge of the works on the Torre Avenir, for which an executive project already has been developed and will be adapted to the new uses. These works are scheduled to take place between September 2026 and September 2027. Afterwards, the Muñoz Ramonet Foundation will manage the complex, and the Academy will be established there under a lease agreement. "We lacked a home open to the public. This gift puts us on par with any other European academy. So that the public can feel ownership of what is theirs: cinema made in Catalonia," said Judith Colell, who pointed out that until now the Catalan Film Academy was the only member of the European federation to hold events (and is also the only one without its own state backing it).

"A sweet moment"

The Film Academy, with 650 members, is the leading representative of a sector that is strategic for Catalan culture and language. Since its founding, it has consolidated its prestigious awards, the Gaudí Awards, whose next edition will be held on February 8th at the Gran Teatre del Liceu; it has created a screenwriting residency directed by Carla Simón; it has organized the Gaudí Cycle, which premieres Catalan-language films every month throughout Catalonia; it has created a pioneering department for the prevention of sexual assault; and all of this has coincided with the emergence of filmmakers and films that have achieved great international and popular success, winning international awards, as the president of the Film Academy, Judith Colell, explained this Friday. "We are experiencing a very sweet moment," Hernández reaffirmed regarding the state of Catalan cinema. With the Academy's new headquarters, the City Council and the Generalitat (Government of Catalonia) emphasize "the institutional commitment to the growth and promotion of the Catalan audiovisual sector." For Mayor Collboni, "by redefining and opening up this space" at the Catalan Film Academy, "cinema, culture, the city, and the country all benefit." In response to a question from journalists, he denied that this investment compensates for the 3 million euros that the Generalitat (2) and the City Council (1) will allocate to hosting the Goya Awards in Barcelona in 2026.