The bid for Maspalomas, in the south of Gran Canaria, to host the 2026 Goya Awards was unsuccessful this time. Despite efforts to bring the great celebration of Spanish cinema to the archipelago, the 2026 Goya Awards will be presented in Barcelona. The Academy justifies its choice by highlighting the city as a key cultural hub and its ability to enhance the event's international impact.
The gala will take place on a similar date to this year, probably Saturday, February 7, 2026, although the exact date has not yet been confirmed. The broadcast will be carried out, as usual, on TVE's La 1 channel and its web platform. The south of Gran Canaria will have to wait until 2027, a very complicated year because there are general elections and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) will want to have the entire industry concentrated in Madrid. Another thing Maspalomas has to offer is the European Film Academy.
The 2026 Honorary Goya will go to Gonzalo Suárez. The filmmaker, who received the Goya for Best Director in 1989 for "Remando al viento" (Rowing with the Wind), will be recognized for his extensive and impressive filmography. Suárez will receive the award in the same city where he made his first films. Regarding who will host the gala, several names are already being considered in homage to Catalan culture. The return of Andreu Buenafuente is one of the strongest options, and a couple format is also being considered, with actors such as Eduard Fernández and Úrsula Corberó as possible candidates.
With the precedent of the 2025 Goya Awards, which awarded two films ('El 47' and 'La infiltrada') with the Best Film award, and a list of Spanish productions from 2025 that are emerging as favorites, the 40th edition of the awards is expected to be, once again, a grand celebration of the good times of Spanish cinema.
