Goya Award for Best Actress

The Goya Award for Best Actress (Spanish: Premio Goya a la mejor interpretación femenina protagonista) is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.

Goya Award for Best Actress
The 2025 recipient: Carolina Yuste
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Country	Spain
Presented by	Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain (AACCE)
First award	1987
Most recent winner	Carolina Yuste Undercover (2024)

Since its inception, the award has been given to 26 actresses. At the 1st Goya Awards ceremony held in 1987, 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. Penélope Cruz was nominated on twelve occasions, winning two times.

As of the 2025 ceremony, Carolina Yuste is the most recent winner in this category for her role as Mónica / Arantxa in Undercover.

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.

Table key

‡	Indicates the winner

1980s

Amparo Rivelles was the first winner in this category for her performance in We Must Undo the House (1987).

Verónica Forqué has won twice, The Happy Life in 1988 and Kika in 1994.

Carmen Maura won the most best actress awards, three, for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1989), Ay, Carmela! (1991) and Common Wealth (2001)

Victoria Abril was nominated eight times and won once for her role in Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995)

Emma Suárez has won best actress twice, for The Dog in the Manger in 1997 and Julieta in 2017.

Cecilia Roth has won twice, for Martín (Hache) in 1998 and All About My Mother in 2000.

Year	Actress	Role(s)	English title	Original title
1987 (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
1988 (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 [es]	Bernarda Alba	The House of Bernarda Alba	La casa de Bernada Alba
1989 (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 [ca]
	María Fernanda D'Ocón [es]	Sor Mercedes	Caminos de tiza [ca]
	Ángela Molina	Charo	Lights and Shadows	Luces y sombras

1990s

Year	Actress	Role(s)	English title	Original title
1990 (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
1991 (5th)	Carmen Maura ‡	Carmela	Ay, Carmela!	¡Ay, Carmela!
	Victoria Abril	Marina Osorio	Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!	¡Átame!
	Charo López	Clara	The Most Natural Thing	Lo más natural
1992 (6th)	Sílvia Munt ‡	Carmen Galán	Butterfly Wings	Alas de mariposa
	Victoria Abril	Luisa	Lovers	Amantes
	Maribel Verdú	Trini
1993 (7th)	Ariadna Gil ‡	Violeta	Belle Époque
	Penélope Cruz	Silvia	Jamón Jamón
	Assumpta Serna	Adela de Otero	The Fencing Master	El maestro de esgrima
1994 (8th)	Verónica Forqué ‡	Kika	Kika
	Carmen Maura	Ana	Shadows in a Conflict	Sombras en una batalla
	Emma Suárez	Lisa / Sofía	The Red Squirrel	La ardilla roja
1995 (9th)	Cristina Marcos ‡	Yoli	All Men Are the Same	Todos los hombres sois iguales
	Ana Belén	Desideria Oliván	The Turkish Passion	La pasión turca
	Ruth Gabriel	Charo	Running Out of Time	Días contados
1996 (10th)	Victoria Abril ‡	Gloria Duque	Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead	Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto
	Ariadna Gil	María	Antarctica	Antártida
	Marisa Paredes	Leo Macías	The Flower of My Secret	La flor de mi secreto
1997 (11th)	Emma Suárez ‡	Diana	The Dog in the Manger	El perro del hortelano
	Ana Torrent	Ángela Márquez	Thesis	Tesis
	Concha Velasco	Palmira Gadea	Beyond the Garden	Más allá del jardín
1998 (12th)	Cecilia Roth ‡	Alicia	Martín (Hache)
	Maribel Verdú	Marina	The Lucky Star	La buena estrella
	Julia Gutiérrez Caba	Lola	The Color of the Clouds	El color de las nubes
1999 (13th)	Penélope Cruz ‡	Macarena Granada	The Girl of Your Dreams	La niña de tus ojos
	Cayetana Guillén Cuervo	Lucrecia Richmond	The Grandfather	El abuelo
	Najwa Nimri	Ana	Lovers of the Arctic Circle	Los amantes del círculo polar
	Leonor Watling	Carmen López	A Time for Defiance	La hora de los valientes

2000s

Lola Dueñas won twice, for The Sea Inside (2005) and Me Too (2010)

Penélope Cruz was nominated twelve times and won twice for The Girl of Your Dreams (1999) and Volver (2007)

Candela Peña won for Princesas in 2006.

Maribel Verdú was nominated eight times and won twice for Seven Billiard Tables in 2008 and Snow White in 2013

Year	Actress	Role(s)	English title	Original title
2000 (14th)	Cecilia Roth ‡	Manuela Coleman	All About My Mother	Todo sobre mi madre
	Ariadna Gil	Isabel	Black Tears	Lágrimas negras
	Carmen Maura	Berta	Lisbon	Lisboa
	Mercedes Sampietro	Gloria	By My Side Again	Cuando vuelvas a mi lado
2001 (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
2002 (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
2003 (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
2004 (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
2005 (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
2006 (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
2007 (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
2008 (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
2009 (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

2010s

Nora Navas won for Black Bread in 2011.

Marian Álvarez won for Wounded in 2014.

Bárbara Lennie won for Magical Girl in 2015.

Natalia de Molina won for Food and Shelter in 2016.

Year	Actress	Role(s)	English title	Original title
2010 (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
2011 (25th)	Nora Navas ‡	Florència	Black Bread	Pa negre
	Elena Anaya	Alba	Room in Rome	Habitación en Roma
	Emma Suárez	Alícia	The Mosquito Net	La mosquitera
	Belén Rueda	Julia Levin / Sara	Julia's Eyes	Los ojos de Julia
2012 (26th)	Elena Anaya ‡	Vera Cruz / Gal Ledgard	The Skin I Live In	La piel que habito
	Verónica Echegui	Laia	Kathmandu Lullaby	Katmandú, un espejo en el cielo
	Salma Hayek	Luisa Gómez	As Luck Would Have It	La chispa de la vida
	Inma Cuesta	Hortensia Rodríguez	The Sleeping Voice	La voz dormida
2013 (27th)	Maribel Verdú ‡	Encarna	Blancanieves
	Penélope Cruz	Gemma	Twice Born	Venuto al mondo
	Aida Folch	Mercè	The Artist and the Model	El artista y la modelo
	Naomi Watts	María Bennet	The Impossible	The Impossible
2014 (28th)	Marian Álvarez ‡	Ana	Wounded	La herida
	Inma Cuesta	Ruth Belloso	Three Many Weddings	Tres bodas de más
	Aura Garrido	Ella	Stockholm	Stockholm
	Nora Navas	Geni Moncada	We All Want What's Best for Her	Tots volem el millor per a ella
2015 (29th)	Bárbara Lennie ‡	Bárbara	Magical Girl
	María León	Sara	Marseille	Marsella
	Macarena Gómez	Montse	Shrew's Nest	Musarañas
	Elena Anaya	Lupe	They Are All Dead	Todos Están Muertos
2016 (30th)	Natalia de Molina ‡	Rocío Gómez	Food and Shelter	Techo y comida
	Inma Cuesta	The Bride	The Bride	La novia
	Penélope Cruz	Magda	Ma Ma	Ma ma
	Juliette Binoche	Josephine Peary	Nobody Wants the Night	Nadie quiere la noche
2017 (31st)	Emma Suárez ‡	Julieta Arcos	Julieta
	Penélope Cruz	Macarena Granada	The Queen of Spain	La reina de España
	Bárbara Lennie	María Funes	María (and Everybody Else)	María (y los demás)
	Carmen Machi	Rosa	The Open Door	La puerta abierta
2018 (32nd) [4]	Nathalie Poza ‡	Carla Miralles	Can't Say Goodbye	No sé decir adiós
	Emily Mortimer	Florence Green	The Bookshop
	Penélope Cruz	Virginia Vallejo	Loving Pablo
	Maribel Verdú	Carmen	Abracadabra
2019 (33rd) [5]	Susi Sánchez ‡	Anabel Barnuevo	Sunday's Illness	La enfermedad del domingo
	Najwa Nimri	Lila Cassen	Quién te cantará
	Penélope Cruz	Laura	Everybody Knows	Todos lo saben
	Lola Dueñas	Estrella Aranda	Journey to a Mother's Room	Viaje al cuarto de una madre

2020s

Belén Cuesta won for The Endless Trench in 2020.

Patricia López Arnaiz won for Ane Is Missing in 2021

Laia Costa won for Lullaby in 2023

Malena Alterio won for Something Is About to Happen in 2024

Year	Actress	Role(s)	English title	Original title
2020 (34th) [6]	Belén Cuesta ‡	Rosa Domínguez	The Endless Trench	La trinchera infinita
	Penélope Cruz	Jacinta	Pain and Glory	Dolor y gloria
	Greta Fernández	Sara Garrido	A Thief's Daughter	La hija de un ladrón
	Marta Nieto	Elena	Mother	Madre
2021 (35th) [7][8][9]	Patricia López Arnaiz ‡	Lide Sagasti	Ane Is Missing	Ane
	Amaia Aberasturi	Ana Ibarguren	Coven	Akelarre
	Kiti Mánver	Lola Cruz	One Careful Owner	El inconveniente
	Candela Peña	Rosa Román	Rosa's Wedding	La boda de Rosa
2022 (36th) [10]	Blanca Portillo ‡	Maixabel Lasa	Maixabel
	Emma Suárez	Berta	Josephine	Josefina
	Petra Martínez	María	That Was Life	La vida era eso
	Penélope Cruz	Janis Martínez Moreno	Parallel Mothers	Madres paralelas
2023 (37th) [11][12]	Laia Costa ‡	Amaia	Lullaby	Cinco lobitos
	Marina Foïs	Olga Denis	The Beasts	As bestas
	Anna Castillo	Julia	Wild Flowers	Girasoles silvestres
	Bárbara Lennie	Alice Gould	God's Crooked Lines	Los renglones torcidos de Dios
	Vicky Luengo	Elena	Cork	Suro
2024 (38th) [13]	Malena Alterio ‡	Lucía	Something Is About to Happen	Que nadie duerma
	Patricia López Arnaiz	Ane	20,000 Species of Bees	20.000 especies de abejas
	María Vázquez	Ramona	Matria
	Laia Costa	Nat	Un amor
	Carolina Yuste	Conchita	Jokes & Cigarettes	Saben aquell
2025 (39th) [14]	Carolina Yuste ‡	Mónica / Arantxa	Undercover	La infiltrada
	Emma Vilarasau	Montse	A House on Fire	Casa en flames
	Julianne Moore	Ingrid Parker	The Room Next Door	La habitación de al lado
	Tilda Swinton	Martha Hunt	The Room Next Door	La habitación de al lado
	Patricia López Arnaiz	Isabel	Glimmers	Los destellos

Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals received two or more Best Actress awards: Wins Actress 3 Carmen Maura 2 Cecilia Roth Lola Dueñas Verónica Forqué Emma Suárez Maribel Verdú Penélope Cruz

The following individuals received three or more Best Actress nominations: Nominations Actress 12 Penélope Cruz 8 Victoria Abril Maribel Verdú 6 Emma Suárez 5 Carmen Maura Ariadna Gil 4 Ana Belén Adriana Ozores 3 Elena Anaya Inma Cuesta Lola Dueñas Verónica Forqué Bárbara Lennie Ángela Molina Patricia López Arnaiz