Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Los Domingos took top honors at the 40th Goya Awards in Barcelona, securing five awards including best picture and director. Oliver Laxe’s Sirât dominated craft categories with wins in cinematography, sound, editing and more. The ceremony featured political statements denouncing the Gaza situation and figures like Donald Trump, met with audience applause.
The 40th Spanish Academy Goya Awards ceremony unfolded on February 28, 2026, in Barcelona, celebrating the year’s standout Spanish films. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Los Domingos, which led nominations with 13 nods, emerged as the night’s biggest winner, claiming best picture, best director for Ruiz de Azúa, best original screenplay for her, and best actress for Patricia López Arnaiz. The film, shot in Bilbao and premiered at the 2025 San Sebastian Film Festival where it won the Golden Shell, follows 17-year-old Ainara as she navigates a family crisis after feeling a religious calling to become a cloistered nun.
Oliver Laxe’s Sirât, Spain’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and a Jury Prize winner at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, secured victories across technical fields. It won best cinematography for Mauro Herce, best sound for Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas, best editing for Cristóbal Fernández, best original music for Kangding Ray, best production design for Oriol Maymó, and best art direction for Laia Ateca Font. The film depicts a father and son searching for a missing family member at a rave in southern Morocco’s mountains.
Other notable wins included best new director for Eva Libertad’s Deaf, which also took supporting actor for Álvaro Cervantes and new actress for Miriam Garlo, and best adapted screenplay for Joaquín Oristrell, Manuel Gómez Pereira and Yolanda García Serrano’s La Cena. Susan Sarandon received the International Goya of Honor, praising Spanish artists for their moral clarity amid global cruelty and quoting Howard Zinn on hope in tough times.
The event opened with co-host Luis Tosar, wearing a Palestine pin, condemning the “Gaza genocide,” drawing widespread applause. Adapted screenplay co-winner Joaquín Oristrell criticized dictators for denying issues like gender violence, climate change and immigration policies, again to strong audience support.
