BLOCKBUSTER movies Barbie and Oppenheimer helped to lift Spain’s cinema attendance to 77.8 million last year- 26% more than in 2022.
The figures are still well below numbers achieved in 2019 when 105.5 million people went to the movies, generating box-office ticket sales of €624.1 million.
Nevertheless it is good news for cinemas as they continue to recover from the Covid pandemic which saw their doors closed for months.
They also face tough competition from streaming services which saw their uptake boosted during lockdowns.
The Federation of Spanish Cinemas(FECE) says last year’s highlight was the big summer box office figures generated by the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.
The best weekend of the year of July 21-23 brought in €11.5 million in revenue.
The best day of 2023 was July 26 with over 900,000 people going to the cinema, and it was the second-busiest summer in the last decade.
Other films like Super Mario Bros: The Movie and Avatar: The Way of Water both surpassed €20 million at the box office.
The most-watched Spanish language film was the sports-based drama/comedy Campeonex with nearly two million viewers.
Another positive sign is that there are actually more cinemas in Spain than before the pandemic.
The FECE report says there were 751 cinemas operating last year, compared to 723 in 2019.
The most populated regions have the largest number of cinemagoers, led by the Community of Madrid with 15.2 million, Catalunya with 13.7 million, and Andalucia with 11.6 million.
The study says that themed Film Festivals are drawing people in as well as discounts like the Youth Cultural Bonus and campaigns to entice senior citizen attendees.
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