On Saturday night, filmmaker Albert Serra, from Banyoles, won the Goya Award for best documentary of the year with his A shocking film about bullfighting, Afternoons of solitude. However, he wasn't the only person from Girona to take home a statuette at the Spanish Film Academy Awards gala: Jordi Jiménez, a resident of Salt, also went up on stage to receive an award; in his case, for Gilbert, a little gem of stop-motion about friendship and selfishness, recognized as best animated short film.

I can still hear itFriends forever which closed the Goya Awards gala, held in Barcelona last Saturday. The fact that, nearly thirty-four years after the Olympic Games, Barcelona has nothing new to offer when speaking to all of Spain on television and has to resort to nostalgia for an extraordinary but bygone era made the undisguised institutional purpose of turning the night of the film industry into a mere spectacle even more evident.star systemHispanic culture, which we share in a banal way of burying so many unresolved differences, implying that, if they aren't resolved, a fraternal embrace is the way forward, because the false path has been abandoned forever.

The musical opening of the Goya gala anticipated the fragility of the show we would see next. Despite the good intentions of the hosts, the couple did not transmit harmony. Both Rigoberta Bandini and Luis Tosar seemed uncomfortable and insecure in a show that didn't even seem to suit them. Tosar was stiff and seemed resigned to carrying out his duty. Despite the efforts of both to feign amusement and familiarity, their appearances were painful to watch. The production insisted on showing Susan Sarandon observing the show. The actress, grateful and willing to collaborate, always seemed to have difficulty understanding and enjoying everything that was happening in front of her. It was incomprehensible that the presence of voice actress Maria Lluïsa Solà and the American interpreter were never united, considering that Solà has been her voice in Spanish. The production, in serious difficulties at times, seemed to insist on connecting them visually. The Gaudí mosaic was the typical graphic element that reinforced the Barcelona identity of the party. A greater notoriety and sensitivity for Catalan and the other co-official languages was appreciated. This is how it should be normal, not a gesture depending on the city hosting the party. But it cannot be that in a multilingual country, acknowledgments in Basque do not have an interpreter.

Barcelona hosted the 40th edition of the Goya Awards this Saturday, an edition marked by the return of the gala to the Catalan capital twenty-six years later. Sundays has triumphed over the adventure in the desert of Siradowhich has swept the technical categories. All this in a ceremony that once again provided memorable images, musical numbers with a Catalan flavor, and impassioned speeches.

After theex aequo From the previous edition, the Goya Awards once again have a clear winner: Sundays It triumphed at the 40th Goya Awards, held this Saturday at the Barcelona International Convention Centre. The film, directed by the Basque filmmaker, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa It took home five awards – best film, director, actress (Patricia López Arnaiz), supporting actress, and original screenplay – enough to make it the big winner of the night. But the Catalan production also made room in the awards list. Sirado, the Galician film Oliver Laxewhich swept six technical categories: cinematography, art direction, production design, editing, music, and, of course, sound for Oscar nominees Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, and Yasmina Praderas.

The Goya Awards hadn't been held in Catalonia for 26 years, and their return to Barcelona was marked by a palpable sense of celebration, reflected in the fashion. Although, as is typical for these galas, black was predominant—always a safe bet for those who want to look elegant—there were some daring choices that attempted to break away from the prevailing color scheme. There was also room for political statements, with many guests accessorizing their evening wear with pins advocating for the liberation of Palestine.

At the end of 2025, Pantone proclaimed the Color of the Year to be cloud dancerAn off-white that, under a poetic evocation of lightness and calm, was nonetheless an unusual choice: for the first time, white assumed the annual spotlight. The decision generated controversy. Not only because white remains, for many, more of an absence than a color, but also because, in a political context marked by the resurgence of identity politics and conservative discourses, some interpreted it as unsettling symbolism.

In 2022, the Spanish Film Academy decided to add a new award to its annual ceremony: the International Goya Award, which recognizes "personalities who contribute to cinema as an art form that unites cultures and audiences worldwide." The idea was clearly inspired by France's honorary César Award, which for many years has added a touch of Hollywood glamour to the French film industry's biggest night. This year, at the Goya Awards ceremony held in Barcelona, ​​the recipient is... Susan Sarandon (New York, 1946), one of the great American actresses of her generation, winner of the Oscar for her role as a nun in the drama Death penalty, and acclaimed for memorable performances such as Thelma and Louise, Atlantic City, The craving either The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The fact that Barcelona is hosting the Goya Awards ceremony shortly after the recent Gaudí Awards gala is yet another episode in the culture war between two visions of Barcelona and its role in Spain. This battle, on a political level, can be likened to that between sovereigntists and federalists. The former want Barcelona to act as the capital of Catalonia and the Catalan language; that is, to be the capital of the region. as if it were capital of a state, to guarantee the survival of the national identity. The latter group intends for Barcelona to embrace its share of Spanish capital status without reservation, in order to maximize its potential and contribute to a more pluralistic understanding of the Iberian Peninsula.

The celebration of the next Goya Awards ceremony in Barcelona, ​​on Saturday, February 28, will be accompanied by a series of activities throughout the city. One of the most anticipated will be the concert by the Barcelona Municipal Band at L'Auditori on February 22. The performance, curated by Juan Carlos Cuello and Vanessa Garde, along with conductor José Rafael Pascual-Vilaplana, will feature several Goya Award-winning film scores and will be hosted by actress Victoria Luengo. The Palau de la Música will also kick off the Goya festivities by hosting the recording of a radio drama based on the film. Rowing with the wind, by Gonzalo Suárez, winner of this year's Honorary Goya Award.

The Goyas will be held at the Barcelona International Convention Centre, in the Parc del Fòrum, on February 28, 2026. This will be the 40th edition of the awards ceremony, and it is not the first time that the Catalan capital has hosted the awards organized by the Spanish Film Academy. However, the last time was 26 years ago.

The next Goya Awards gala will be held in Barcelona. The Catalan capital will host the 40th edition of the awards ceremony early next year. Barcelona, ​​in fact, was the first city to host the awards after Madrid, where the first thirteen galas were held. It was held on January 29, 2000, at L'Auditori, which had just opened the previous year, and the big winner at that gala was All about my mother, by Pedro Almodóvar. It will therefore be 26 years since Barcelona last hosted the awards, organized by the Spanish Film Academy. Last year, the Goya Awards were held in Granada, and in previous editions, the ceremony was held in cities such as Valladolid, Seville, Valencia, and Malaga.

This Saturday the actress Carolina Yuste took the Goya for best actress for The infiltrator, where she plays a National Police agent who infiltrated the circles of the Basque left during the 90s. The real name of the young woman who inspired the film is Elena Tejada and the film, which was also made into a film, the 'ex aequo' award for Best Film with an unprecedented tie with The 47, tells how Tejada lived with ETA and dismantled the Donosti commando, one of the most symbolic of the armed group. The award has not been free of controversy due to the film's treatment of the Basque conflict.