The number of active venues and screens in Spain has increased compared to the previous year and is slightly above what it was before the pandemic, reaching 2014 figures.
In Spain, there are approximately 77 movie theaters for every million inhabitants, two more than in the previous installment of the census, although 5 less than the figure of ten years ago. This is how the new census of movie theaters details it. A report prepared by the Association for Media Research (AIMC) based on the census from July 1, 2021 to April 1, 2022.
The document, carried out in collaboration with the two largest cinema advertising exclusivists/distributors: 014 DS and Moviedis (integration of Movierecord and Discine) indicates that the number of exhibition venues stands at 732, increasing by 26 venues (3.7% ) compared to the last census. The number of theaters/screens also increased compared to the previous year, specifically 1.8%, going from 3,563 to 3,626 (with 110 registrations and 47 cancellations).
The communities that have 80 or more theaters per million inhabitants are: La Rioja (138), Navarra (94), the Basque Country (89), the Valencian Community (84), Catalonia (81) and Murcia (80). As for the provinces with the highest density of venues, they are: Soria, La Rioja, Segovia, Tarragona, Girona, Salamanca and Cádiz, which exceed 100 venues per million inhabitants.
On the opposite side are the communities of Ceuta and Melilla (47), Cantabria (58), Extremadura (59), the Balearic Islands (61), the Canary Islands (62) and Aragon (63). On the other hand, the provinces that have a lower concentration of theaters per million inhabitants, not exceeding 50, are Melilla, Teruel, Ourense, Jaén and Toledo. Regarding the number of seats, the figure is set at 758,795, which represents a growth of 6,504 (0.9%), compared to the 2021 study.
The census shows a gradual increase in the last six years of the population residing in municipalities with cinemas. 63.4% of Spaniards (2.2 points in relation to 2016) reside in a town that has at least one cinema. Likewise, the number of municipalities with cinemas has also increased to 479 (18 more than in 2021 and 42 more than in 2016), which represents 5.9% of the total. On average, there are approximately 1.5 locations and 7.5 theaters per municipality with cinemas. On the other hand, there are 2,468 theaters (68.1%) located in towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
In recent years, there has been a slight trend towards cinemas with fewer screens and, above all, with fewer seats in each room, although on the other hand, the seats are usually larger and more comfortable. The average number of seats per room/screen is 210 units (two less than in 2019 and fifteen less than in 2014) and each venue has, on average, 5 rooms.
