Goya Award for Best Actress
The Goya Award for Best Actress is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.
History
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, Victoria Abril, Carmen Maura, Pilar López de Ayala, Mercedes Sampietro, Laia Marull, Blanca Portillo, Lola Dueñas, Marian Álvarez, all have received the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Silvia Abascal, Aura Garrido, Elena Anaya, Natalia de Molina, Nathalie Poza, Kiti Manver, Laia Costa, and María Vázquez, 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.
At the 94th Academy Awards, Cruz was nominated for Best Actress for Parallel Mothers.
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.| Indicates the winner |
Multiple wins and nominations
The following individuals received two or more Best Actress awards:| Wins | Actress |
| 3 | Carmen Maura |
| 2 | Cecilia Roth |
| 2 | Lola Dueñas |
| 2 | Verónica Forqué |
| 2 | Emma Suárez |
| 2 | Maribel Verdú |
| 2 | Penélope Cruz |
The following individuals received three or more Best Actress nominations: