Barcelona theaters draw three million spectators for a third straight year

Barcelona’s theaters have held on to the three-million-spectator mark for a third consecutive year, with 3,176,328 people attending performances during the latest season. Revenue also reached a record, exceeding 103.1 million euros.

“Three million is an established figure, a good moment for theater, the best moment in history,” said Isabel Vidal, president of Catalonia’s theater companies association Adetca, while presenting the season’s figures and the Catalunya aixeca el teló gala at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

The figures rose above four million when professional theaters across Catalonia were counted for the first time. The combined total reached 4,081,780 spectators and generated 115 million euros, with average occupancy of 67% across 16,988 performances of 2,829 productions. The calculation included stable municipal programming in 82% of municipalities with venues in the public performing arts and music network, as well as private theaters outside Barcelona.

Among larger venues, the most popular productions included Mago Pop, the latest staging of The Phantom of the Opera, Improshow, La Cubana’s musical comedy L’amor venia amb taxi, and Albert Pla and Peyu’s Hamlet. At venues with fewer than 200 seats, Corta el cable rojo led the ranking, followed by productions including Permagel, Ovelles, Desaparellats and Y no quedará ninguno.

Vidal noted that 58% of productions were made in Catalonia, while 49% had Catalan authorship. Forty-one percent were performed in Catalan and 32% in Spanish. Culture Minister Sònia Hernández said the Generalitat plans to present a Cultural Data Observatory in the first half of 2027 under the Cultural Rights Law now before the Catalan Parliament.

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Three million is an established figure, a good moment for theater, the best moment in history.