Goya Award for Best Director

The Goya Award for Best Director (Spanish: Premio Goya a la mejor dirección) is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. The category has been presented ever since the first edition of the Goya Awards. Fernando Fernán Gómez was the first winner of this award for his film Voyage to Nowhere.

Goya Award for Best Director
The 2025 co-recipient: Pol Rodríguez
Awarded for	Best Director of the Year
Country	Spain
Presented by	Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España
Currently held by	Isaki Lacuesta, Pol Rodríguez for Saturn Return (2024)
Website	http://www.premiosgoya.com/

Pedro Almodóvar holds the record of most wins and nominations for this category, with three wins out of twelve nominations, winning for All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006) and Pain and Glory (2019). Fernando León de Aranoa, who won for Barrio (1998), Mondays in the Sun (2002) and The Good Boss (2021), and J. A. Bayona, who won for The Impossible (2012), A Monster Calls (2015), and Society of the Snow (2023), share the record of most wins. Directors Fernando Trueba, Alejandro Amenábar, Isabel Coixet, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen have received this award twice.

In the list below the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees.

Winners and nominees

Fernando Fernán Gómez was the first winner of this award for Voyage to Nowhere (1986).

José Luis Garci won for Course Completed (1987).

Fernando Trueba has won this award twice, for Twisted Obsession (1989) and Belle Époque (1992).

Carlos Saura won for ¡Ay, Carmela! (1990).

Luis García Berlanga won for Everyone Off to Jail (1993).

Imanol Uribe won for Running Out of Time (1994).

Pilar Miró won for The Dog in the Manger (1996).

Fernando León de Aranoa has won thrice, for Barrio (1998), Mondays in the Sun (2002), and The Good Boss (2021).

Pedro Almodóvar has won this award three times, for All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006) and Pain and Glory (2019).

Alejandro Amenábar has won twice, for The Others (2001) and The Sea Inside (2004).

Icíar Bollaín won for Take My Eyes (2003).

Isabel Coixet has won twice, for The Secret Life of Words (2005) and The Bookshop (2017).

Agustí Villaronga won for Black Bread (2010).

Juan Antonio Bayona has won thrice, The Impossible (2012), A Monster Calls (2016) and Society of the Snow (2023).

David Trueba won for Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed (2013).

Alberto Rodríguez won for Marshland (2014).

Rodrigo Sorogoyen has won twice, for The Realm (2018) and The Beasts (2022).

1980s

Year	Director	English title	Original title
1986 (1st) [1][2]	Fernando Fernán Gómez	Voyage to Nowhere	El viaje a ninguna parte
	Emilio Martínez Lázaro	Lulu by Night	Lulú de noche
	Pilar Miró	Werther
1987 (2nd)	José Luis Garci	Course Completed	Asignatura aprobada
	Bigas Luna	Anguish	Angustia
	Vicente Aranda	El Lute: Run for Your Life	El Lute: camina o revienta
1988 (3rd)	Gonzalo Suárez	Rowing with the Wind	Remando al viento
	Pedro Almodóvar	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
	Ricardo Franco	Berlin Blues	Berlín Blues
	Antonio Mercero	Wait for Me in Heaven	Espérame en el cielo
	Francisco Regueiro	Winter Diary	Diario de invierno
1989 (4th)	Fernando Trueba	Twisted Obsession	El sueño del mono loco
	Vicente Aranda	If They Tell You I Fell	Si te dicen que caí
	Fernando Fernán Gómez	The Sea and the Weather	El mar y el tiempo
	Josefina Molina	Esquilache
	Agustí Villaronga	Moon Child	El niño de la luna

1990s

Year	Director	English title	Original title
1990 (5th)	Carlos Saura	¡Ay, Carmela!
	Pedro Almodóvar	Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!	¡Átame!
	Montxo Armendáriz	Letters from Alou	Las cartas de Alou
1991 (6th)	Vicente Aranda	Lovers	Amantes
	Pilar Miró	Prince of Shadows	Beltenebros
	Imanol Uribe	The Dumbfounded King	El rey pasmado
1992 (7th)	Fernando Trueba	Belle Époque
	Bigas Luna	A Tale of Ham and Passion	Jamón, jamón
	Pedro Olea	The Fencing Master	El maestro de esgrima
1993 (8th)	Luis García Berlanga	Everyone to Jail	Todos a la cárcel
	Vicente Aranda	Intruder	Intruso
	Juanma Bajo Ulloa	The Dead Mother	La madre muerta
1994 (9th)	Imanol Uribe	Running Out of Time	Días contados
	Vicente Aranda	Turkish Passion	La pasión turca
	José Luis Garci	Cradle Song	Canción de cuna
1995 (10th)	Álex de la Iglesia	The Day of the Beast	El día de la bestia
	Pedro Almodóvar	The Flower of My Secret	La flor de mi secreto
	Manuel Gómez Pereira	Mouth to Mouth	Boca a boca
1996 (11th)	Pilar Miró	The Dog in the Manger	El perro del hortelano
	Julio Medem	Earth	Tierra
	Imanol Uribe	Bwana
1997 (12th)	Ricardo Franco	The Lucky Star	La buena estrella
	Adolfo Aristarain	Martín (Hache)
	Montxo Armendáriz	Secrets of the Heart	Secretos del corazón
1998 (13th)	Fernando León de Aranoa	Barrio
	Alejandro Amenábar	Open Your Eyes	Abre los ojos
	José Luis Garci	The Grandfather	El abuelo
	Fernando Trueba	The Girl of Your Dreams	La niña de tus ojos
1999 (14th)	Pedro Almodóvar	All About My Mother	Todo sobre mi madre
	José Luis Cuerda	Butterfly's Tongue	La lengua de las mariposas
	Gracia Querejeta	By My Side Again	Cuando vuelvas a mi lado
	Benito Zambrano	Solas

2000s

Year	Director	English title	Original title
2000 (15th)	José Luis Borau	Leo
	Jaime Chávarri	Kisses for Everyone	Besos para todos
	Álex de la Iglesia	Common Wealth	La comunidad
	José Luis Garci	You're the One	Una historia de entonces
2001 (16th)	Alejandro Amenábar	The Others	Los Otros
	Vicente Aranda	Mad Love	Juana la Loca
	Agustín Díaz	Don't Tempt Me	Sin noticias de Dios
	Julio Medem	Sex and Lucia	Lucía y el sexo
2002 (17th)	Fernando León de Aranoa	Mondays in the Sun	Los lunes al sol
	Pedro Almodóvar	Talk to Her	Hable con ella
	Antonio Hernández	In the City Without Limits	En la ciudad sin límites
	Emilio Martínez Lázaro	The Other Side of the Bed	El otro lado de la cama
2003 (18th)	Icíar Bollaín	Take My Eyes	Te doy mis ojos
	Isabel Coixet	My Life Without Me	Mi vida sin mí
	Cesc Gay	In the City	En la ciudad
	David Trueba	Soldiers of Salamina	Soldados de Salamina
2004 (19th)	Alejandro Amenábar	The Sea Inside	Mar adentro
	Pedro Almodóvar	Bad Education	La mala educación
	Adolfo Aristarain	Roma
	Carlos Saura	The Seventh Day	El séptimo día
2005 (20th)	Isabel Coixet	The Secret Life of Words	La vida secreta de las palabras
	Montxo Armendáriz	Obaba
	Alberto Rodríguez	7 Virgins	7 vírgenes
	Benito Zambrano	Habana Blues
2006 (21st)	Pedro Almodóvar	Volver
	Agustín Díaz	Alatriste
	Manuel Huerga	Salvador
	Guillermo del Toro	Pan's Labyrinth	El laberinto del fauno
2007 (22nd)	Jaime Rosales	Solitary Fragments	La soledad
	Icíar Bollaín	Mataharis
	Emilio Martínez Lázaro	13 Roses	Las 13 rosas
	Gracia Querejeta	Seven Billiard Tables	Siete mesas de billar francés
2008 (23rd)	Javier Fesser	Camino
	José Luis Cuerda	The Blind Sunflowers	Los girasoles ciegos
	Agustín Díaz	Just Walking	Sólo quiero caminar
	Álex de la Iglesia	The Oxford Murders
2009 (24th)	Daniel Monzón	Cell 211	Celda 211
	Juan José Campanella	The Secret in Their Eyes	El secreto de sus ojos
	Alejandro Amenábar	Agora	Ágora
	Fernando Trueba	The Dancer and the Thief	El baile de la victoria

2010s

Year	Director	English title	Original title
2010 (25th)	Agustí Villaronga	Black Bread	Pa negre (Pan negro)
	Rodrigo Cortés	Buried
	Álex de la Iglesia	The Last Circus	Balada triste de trompeta
	Icíar Bollaín	Even the Rain	También la lluvia
2011 (26th)	Enrique Urbizu	No Rest for the Wicked	No habrá paz para los malvados
	Pedro Almodóvar	The Skin I Live In	La Piel que habito
	Mateo Gil	Blackthorn
	Benito Zambrano	The Sleeping Voice	La voz dormida
2012 (27th)	J. A. Bayona	The Impossible	Lo imposible
	Pablo Berger	Blancanieves
	Alberto Rodríguez	Unit 7	Grupo 7
	Fernando Trueba	The Artist and the Model	El artista y la modelo
2013 (28th)	David Trueba	Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed	Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados
	Gracia Querejeta	15 Years and One Day	15 años y un día
	Manuel Martín Cuenca	Cannibal	Caníbal
	Daniel Sánchez Arévalo	Family United	La gran familia española
2014 (29th)	Alberto Rodríguez	Marshland	La isla mínima
	Daniel Monzón	El Niño
	Carlos Vermut	Magical Girl
	Damián Szifrón	Wild Tales	Relatos salvajes
2015 (30th)	Cesc Gay	Truman
	Paula Ortiz	The Bride	La novia
	Isabel Coixet	Nobody Wants the Night	Nadie quiere la noche
	Fernando León de Aranoa	A Perfect Day	Un día perfecto
2016 (31st)	J. A. Bayona	A Monster Calls
	Pedro Almodóvar	Julieta
	Alberto Rodríguez	Smoke & Mirrors	El hombre de las mil caras
	Rodrigo Sorogoyen	May God Save Us	Que Dios nos perdone
2017 (32nd) [3][4][5][6]	Isabel Coixet	The Bookshop	La librería
	Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño	Giant	Handia
	Manuel Martín Cuenca	The Motive	El autor
	Paco Plaza	Veronica	Verónica
2018 (33rd) [7]	Rodrigo Sorogoyen	The Realm	El reino
	Javier Fesser	Champions	Campeones
	Isaki Lacuesta	Between Two Waters	Entre dos aguas
	Asghar Farhadi	Everybody Knows	Todos lo saben
2019 (34th) [8]	Pedro Almodóvar	Pain and Glory	Dolor y gloria
	Alejandro Amenábar	While at War	Mientras dure la guerra
	Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and José Mari Goenaga	The Endless Trench	La trinchera infinita
	Oliver Laxe	Fire Will Come	O que arde

2020s

Year	Director	English title	Original title
2020 (35th) [9]	Salvador Calvo	Adú
	Juanma Bajo Ulloa	Baby
	Icíar Bollaín	Rosa's Wedding	La boda de Rosa
	Isabel Coixet	It Snows in Benidorm	Nieva en Benidorm
2021 (36th) [10][11]	Fernando León de Aranoa	The Good Boss	El buen patrón
	Manuel Martín Cuenca	The Daughter	La hija
	Icíar Bollaín	Maixabel
	Pedro Almodóvar	Parallel Mothers	Madres paralelas
2022 (37th) [12]	Rodrigo Sorogoyen	The Beasts	As bestas
	Carla Simón	Alcarràs
	Pilar Palomero	Motherhood	La maternal
	Carlos Vermut	Manticore	Mantícora
	Alberto Rodríguez	Prison 77	Modelo 77
2023 (38th) [13]	J.A. Bayona	Society of the Snow	La sociedad de la nieve
	Víctor Erice	Close Your Eyes	Cerrar los ojos
	Isabel Coixet	Un amor
	David Trueba	Jokes & Cigarettes	Saben aquell
	Elena Martín	Creatura
2024 (39th) [14]	Isaki Lacuesta, Pol Rodríguez	Saturn Return	Segundo premio
	Pedro Almodóvar	The Room Next Door	La habitación de al lado
	Arantxa Echevarría	Undercover	La infiltrada
	Paula Ortiz	The Red Virgin	La virgen roja
	Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño	Marco, the Invented Truth	Marco, la verdad inventada

Multiple nominations

The following 35 directors have received multiple Best Director nominations.

Name	Awards	Nominations
Pedro Almodóvar	3	12
Fernando León de Aranoa	3	4
J. A. Bayona	3	3
Isabel Coixet	2	6
Fernando Trueba	2	5
Alejandro Amenábar	2	5
Rodrigo Sorogoyen	2	3
Vicente Aranda	1	6
Icíar Bollaín	1	5
Alberto Rodríguez	1	5
José Luis Garci	1	4
Álex de la Iglesia	1	4
Pilar Miró	1	3
Imanol Uribe	1	3
David Trueba	1	3
Fernando Fernán Gómez	1	2
Ricardo Franco	1	2
Carlos Saura	1	2
Agustí Villaronga	1	2
Daniel Monzón	1	2
Cesc Gay	1	2
Javier Fesser	1	2
Isaki Lacuesta	1	2
Montxo Armendáriz	0	3
Agustín Díaz Yanes	0	3
Emilio Martínez Lázaro	0	3
Gracia Querejeta	0	3
Benito Zambrano	0	3
Manuel Martín Cuenca	0	3
Aitor Arregi	0	3
Jon Garaño	0	3
Adolfo Aristarain	0	2
José Luis Cuerda	0	2
Bigas Luna	0	2
Julio Medem	0	2
Juanma Bajo Ulloa	0	2
Carlos Vermut	0	2
Paula Ortiz	0	2