What is being celebrated today in southern Gran Canaria is not just a box office success, but a triumph of representation. The film 'Maspalomas', co-directed by Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi, has stormed into the 2026 Goya Awards nominations with nine nods. Goenaga used the announcement to champion cinema as a "very powerful tool" capable of "changing mindsets and making people think," focusing on historically underrepresented groups.
The film uses the iconic landscape of Maspalomas not as a mere tourist backdrop, but as a stage to explore complex themes: LGBTQ+ visibility and sexuality in old age. The film focuses on the importance of representing this community on the big screen and bravely addresses how desire and identity are experienced by older people, a demographic very present in the south of the island.
Aitor Arregi particularly celebrated Kandido Uranga's nomination for best supporting actor, a key figure in the emotional core of the story. For the tourist destination, this flurry of nominations in January 2026 represents an invaluable marketing campaign. While the official gazette of the day focuses on technical bureaucracy and competitive examination boards, culture manages to place the island's name in the national conversation from an angle of prestige and depth. The "Maspalomas brand" thus transcends sunbeds to become a symbol of freedom and intellectual reflection.
The success of Goenaga and Arregi demonstrates that the Canary Islands can be much more than a filming location for Hollywood blockbusters; it is a territory that generates its own stories with European resonance. In 2026, a year where sustainability and social awareness are shaping the agenda, 'Maspalomas' arrives at the Goya Awards to remind us that cinema, in addition to entertainment, is a mirror in which Canarian society—in all its diversity—can finally see itself reflected with pride.
