40th Goya Awards

The 40th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, took place at the Auditori Fòrum in Barcelona, Catalonia, on 28 February 2026. The gala was hosted by Rigoberta Bandini and Luis Tosar and was broadcast on La 1 and RTVE Play.

Sundays went to win five awards, including Best Film, Director, Actress, and Original Screenplay, while Sirāt swept craft categories.

Background

In May 2025, Academy president Fernando Méndez-Leite announced Barcelona as the host city. In July 2025 the Academy presented the regulations for the 2026 awards. A key feature was the modification of the eligibility criteria for the Goya Award for Best New Director, changing the nature of the debut work from first ICAA-assessed feature film to first feature film released in theatres, thus enabling directors such as Eva Libertad (Deaf) with previous works without theatrical distribution (Nikolina) to be eligible for the award. In addition it was established than only one previously designated awardee was allowed to deliver a thank you speech during the gala for each award presentation. The final date of 28 February 2026 was announced in September 2025. The chosen date (somewhat delayed in relation to customary early February dates) set some distance with the celebration of the 18th Gaudí Awards of Catalan cinema on 8 February 2026 also due to be hold in Barcelona, but put the ceremony close to the 29th Málaga Film Festival, opening on 6 March 2026.

On 21 October 2025, the Spanish Film Academy presented the 15 submissions (down from 17 in 2025) for the Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film:

Under the Flags, the Sun (Paraguay), Banzo (Portugal), Belén (Argentina), Quadrilateral (Peru), El extraordinario viaje del dragón (Venezuela), The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (Chile), La piel del agua (Costa Rica), La Virginia de los bolivianos (Bolivia), Los ahogados (Ecuador), Manas (Brazil), We Shall Not Be Moved (Mexico), A Poet (Colombia), Dogs (Uruguay), Beloved Tropic (Panama), and Sugar Island (Dominican Republic).

On 28 October 2025, Méndez-Leite announced Luis Tosar and Rigoberta Bandini as the gala hosts.

On 2 December 2025, the Spanish Film Academy presented the 18 submissions for the Goya Award for Best European Film:

Hollywoodgate and September 5 (Germany), Arco and A Simple Accident (France); The Love That Remains and The Mountain (Iceland); The Boy with Pink Pants and Naples to New York (Italy); Poison and ' (Luxembourg), I Only Rest in the Storm and On Falling (Portugal), Young Mothers (Belgium), Fiume o morte! (Croatia), The Girl with the Needle (Denmark), Sentimental Value (Norway), Conclave (United Kingdom), and Late Shift (Switzerland).