Goya Award for Best Actress
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| Goya Award for Best Actress | |
|---|---|
 The 2026 recipient: Patricia López Arnaiz | |
| Native name | Premio Goya a la mejor interpretación femenina protagonista |
| Awarded for | Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a Spanish film of the year |
| Country | Spain |
| Presented by | Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain (AACCE) |
| First award | 1st Goya Awards (1986) |
| Most recent winner | Patricia López Arnaiz Sundays (2025) |
| Website | Official website |
The Goya Award for Best Actress (Spanish: Premio Goya a la mejor interpretación femenina protagonista) is one of the Goya Awards presented annually by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain (AACCE) since the awards debuted in 1986. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a Spanish film.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 26 actresses. At the 1st Goya Awards ceremony held in 1986, Amparo Rivelles was the first winner of this award for her role as Laura in We Must Undo the House.
Carmen Maura has received the most awards in this category with three wins. Other multiple winners are Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Verónica Forqué, Emma Suárez, Maribel Verdú, and Penélope Cruz, with two wins each. Cruz is the most nominated actress for the award being nominated on twelve occasions. Victoria Abril and Verdú follow in terms of nominations with eight each.
Actresses that won or were nominated for this category have had a significant presence in several film festivals both Spanish and international: Angela Molina (Half of Heaven), Victoria Abril (El Lute: Run for Your Life and Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead), Carmen Maura (Common Wealth), Pilar López de Ayala (Mad Love), Mercedes Sampietro (Common Ground), Laia Marull (Take My Eyes), Blanca Portillo (Seven Billiard Tables), Lola Dueñas (Me Too), Marian Álvarez (Wounded), all have received the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Silvia Abascal (The Idiot Maiden), Aura Garrido (Stockholm), Elena Anaya (They Are All Dead), Natalia de Molina (Food and Shelter), Nathalie Poza (Can't Say Goodbye), Kiti Manver (One Careful Owner), Laia Costa (Lullaby), and María Vázquez (Matria), all received the Best Actress award at the Málaga Film Festival. Penélope Cruz received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Parallel Mothers and the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Volver (shared with the female cast).
At the 94th Academy Awards, Cruz was nominated for Best Actress for Parallel Mothers (2021).
As of the 2026 ceremony, Patricia López Arnaiz is the most recent winner in this category for her role as Maite in Sundays.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years are listed as per the Spanish Film Academy convention, corresponding to year the ceremony was held.
| ‡ | Indicates the winner |
|---|
1980s
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| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 (1st) [1][2][3] |
Amparo Rivelles ‡ | Laura García | We Must Undo the House | Hay que deshacer la casa |
| Victoria Abril | Dorita | Time of Silence | Tiempo de silencio | |
| Ángela Molina | Rosa | Half of Heaven | La mitad del cielo | |
| 1987 (2nd) |
Verónica Forqué ‡ | Ana Chamorro | The Happy Life | La vida alegre |
| Victoria Abril | Consuelo "Chelo" García | El Lute: Run for Your Life | El lute: camina o revienta | |
| Irene Gutiérrez Caba | Bernarda Alba | The House of Bernarda Alba | La casa de Bernada Alba | |
| 1988 (3rd) |
Carmen Maura ‡ | Pepa Marcos | Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios |
| Victoria Abril | Ana Alonso | Baton Rouge | ||
| Ana Belén | Alejandra Barrachina | Miss Caribe | ||
| María Fernanda D'Ocón | Sor Mercedes | Caminos de tiza | ||
| Ángela Molina | Charo | Lights and Shadows | Luces y sombras | |
| 1989 (4th) |
Rafaela Aparicio ‡ | Grandmother | The Sea and the Weather | El mar y el tiempo |
| Victoria Abril | Ramona / Menchu / Aurora Nin | If They Tell You I Fell | Si te dicen que caí | |
| Ana Belén | Paloma | The Flight of the Dove | El vuelo de la paloma | |
| Verónica Forqué | Chusa | Going South Shopping | Bajarse al moro | |
| Ángela Molina | Pepita Morán | The Things of Love | Las cosas del querer | |
1990s
2000s
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| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 (15th) |
Carmen Maura ‡ | Julia García | Common Wealth | La comunidad |
| Icíar Bollaín | Leo | Leo | ||
| Lydia Bosch | Julia | You're the One | Una historia de entonces | |
| Adriana Ozores | Susana Grey | Plenilune | Plenilunio | |
| 2001 (16th) |
Pilar López de Ayala ‡ | Joanna of Castile | Mad Love | Juana la Loca |
| Victoria Abril | Lola Nevado | Don't Tempt Me | Sin noticias de Dios | |
| Nicole Kidman | Grace Stewart | The Others | The Others | |
| Paz Vega | Angela | Mine Alone | Sólo mía | |
| 2002 (17th) |
Mercedes Sampietro ‡ | Liliana Rovira | Common Ground | Lugares comunes |
| Ana Fernández | Andrea | Story of a Kiss | Historia de un beso | |
| Adriana Ozores | Ágata | Nobody's Life | La vida de nadie | |
| Leonor Watling | Elvira | My Mother Likes Women | A mi madre le gustan las mujeres | |
| 2003 (18th) |
Laia Marull ‡ | Pilar Pérez Villar | Take My Eyes | Te doy mis ojos |
| Ariadna Gil | Lola Cercas | Soldiers of Salamis | Soldados de Salamina | |
| Adriana Ozores | Amparo | Sleeping Luck | La suerte dormida | |
| Sarah Polley | Ann | My Life Without Me | ||
| 2004 (19th) |
Lola Dueñas ‡ | Rosa | The Sea Inside | Mar adentro |
| Pilar Bardem | María Zambrano | Dearest Maria | María querida | |
| Ana Belén | Hortensia Ocaña | Things That Make Living Worthwhile | Cosas que hacen que la vida valga la pena | |
| Penélope Cruz | Italia | Don't Move | Non ti muovere | |
| 2005 (20th) |
Candela Peña ‡ | Caye | Princesas | |
| Adriana Ozores | Pilar | Heroine | Heroína | |
| Nathalie Poza | Ana | Hard Times | Malas temporadas | |
| Emma Vilarasau | Irene | Something to Remember Me By | Para que no me olvides | |
| 2006 (21st) |
Penélope Cruz ‡ | Raimunda | Volver | |
| Silvia Abascal | Finea | The Idiot Maiden | La dama boba | |
| Marta Etura | Paula | Dark Blue Almost Black | Azuloscurocasinegro | |
| Maribel Verdú | Mercedes | Pan's Labyrinth | El laberinto del fauno | |
| 2007 (22nd) |
Maribel Verdú ‡ | Ángela Montero | Seven Billiard Tables | Siete mesas de billar francés |
| Belén Rueda | Laura García | The Orphanage | El orfanato | |
| Blanca Portillo | Charo Gil | Seven Billiard Tables | Siete mesas de billar francés | |
| Emma Suárez | Nines | Under the Stars | Bajo las estrellas | |
| 2008 (23rd) |
Carme Elías ‡ | Gloria Usaola | Camino | |
| Verónica Echegui | Isa | My Prison Yard | El patio de mi cárcel | |
| Ariadna Gil | Aurora Rodríguez | Just Walking | Sólo quiero caminar | |
| Maribel Verdú | Elena Vadillo | The Blind Sunflowers | Los girasoles ciegos | |
| 2009 (24th) |
Lola Dueñas ‡ | Laura Valiente | Me Too | Yo, también |
| Penélope Cruz | Magdalena Rivas | Broken Embraces | Los abrazos rotos | |
| Maribel Verdú | Miranda | Tetro | ||
| Rachel Weisz | Hypatia | Agora | Ágora | |
2010s
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2020s
