Spain cinema sees mixed fortunes: Badajoz multiplex closure, Catalonia audience dip, festival surge

The Conquistadores multiplex in Badajoz, which has operated for 27 years, will close permanently on 30 June 2024 after a staff‑led announcement that declining footfall and competition from streaming platforms made the business unsustainable. Nine employees will lose their jobs.

A cultural participation survey by Catalonia's Department of Culture and SGAE shows a continued drop in cinema attendance: only 38.1 % of residents reported going to a cinema in the last quarter, five points lower than two years ago. Attendance remains strongest among people aged 13‑34, while it falls to around 30‑40 % for those 35‑65 and to about 25 % for over‑65s. Digital platforms are cited as a major factor.

Conversely, the spring edition of the Fiesta del Cine in 2026 recorded its best performance in six years, drawing 1,352,668 spectators across 330 theatres, a 4.3 % increase over the previous edition. Ticket prices were set at €3.50, and the event became the second‑largest week of cinema attendance for the year. The top‑grossing film was the teen‑director Kane Parsons' "Backrooms", with three Spanish titles also reaching the top ten.