| Goya Award for Best Actress | |
| Image Upright: | 0.7 |
| Awarded For: | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role |
| Presenter: | Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain (AACCE) |
| Country: | Spain |
| Year: | 1987 (for performance in films released during the 1986 film season) |
| Holder Label: | Most recent winner |
| Holder: | Malena Alterio Something Is About to Happen (2023) |
The Goya Award for Best Actress (Spanish: Premio Goya a la mejor interpretación femenina protagonista) is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 26 actresses. At the 1st Goya Awards ceremony held in 1987, 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. Penélope Cruz was nominated on twelve occasions, winning two times.
As of the 2024 ceremony, Malena Alterio is the most recent winner in this category for her role as Lucía in Something Is About to Happen.
In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release; the ceremonies are always held the following year.
| Indicates the winner |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 (1st) [1] [2] [3] | Laura García | |||
| Dorita | ||||
| Rosa | ||||
| 1987 (2nd) | Ana Chamorro | The Happy Life | ||
| Consuelo "Chelo" García | ||||
| Bernarda Alba | ||||
| 1988 (3rd) | Pepa Marcos | |||
| Ana Alonso | Baton Rouge | |||
| Alejandra Barrachina | ||||
| Sor Mercedes | ||||
| Charo | ||||
| 1989 (4th) | Grandmother | |||
| Ramona / Menchu / Aurora Nin | ||||
| Paloma | ||||
| Chusa | ||||
| Pepita Morán | The Things of Love | |||
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 (5th) | Carmela | |||
| Marina Osorio | ||||
| Clara | The Most Natural Thing | |||
| 1991 (6th) | Carmen Galán | |||
| Luisa | ||||
| Trini | ||||
| 1992 (7th) | Violeta | Belle Époque | ||
| Silvia | ||||
| Adela de Otero | ||||
| 1993 (8th) | Kika | |||
| Ana | ||||
| Lisa / Sofía | ||||
| 1994 (9th) | Yoli | |||
| Desideria Oliván | ||||
| Charo | ||||
| 1995 (10th) | Gloria Duque | |||
| María | Antarctica | |||
| Leo Macías | ||||
| 1996 (11th) | Diana | |||
| Ángela Márquez | ||||
| Palmira Gadea | ||||
| 1997 (12th) | Alicia | |||
| Marina | ||||
| Lola | The Color of the Clouds | |||
| 1998 (13th) | Macarena Granada | |||
| Lucrecia Richmond | ||||
| Ana | ||||
| Carmen López | ||||
| 1999 (14th) | Manuela Coleman | |||
| Isabel | Black Tears | |||
| Berta | ||||
| Gloria | ||||
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 (15th) | Julia García | |||
| Leo | ||||
| Julia | ||||
| Susana Grey | Plenilune | |||
| 2001 (16th) | Joanna of Castile | |||
| Lola Nevado | ||||
| Grace Stewart | ||||
| Angela | ||||
| 2002 (17th) | Liliana Rovira | |||
| Andrea | ||||
| Ágata | Nobody's Life | |||
| Elvira | ||||
| 2003 (18th) | Pilar Pérez Villar | |||
| Lola Cercas | ||||
| Amparo | ||||
| Ann | ||||
| 2004 (19th) | Rosa | |||
| María Zambrano | ||||
| Hortensia Ocaña | Things That Make Living Worthwhile | Cosas que hacen que la vida valga la pena | ||
| Italia | ||||
| 2005 (20th) | Caye | |||
| Pilar | ||||
| Ana | Hard Times | |||
| Irene | Something to Remember Me By | |||
| 2006 (21st) | Raimunda | |||
| Finea | ||||
| Paula | ||||
| Mercedes | ||||
| 2007 (22nd) | Ángela Montero | |||
| Laura García | ||||
| Charo Gil | ||||
| Nines | ||||
| 2008 (23rd) | Gloria Usaola | |||
| Isa | My Prison Yard | |||
| Aurora Rodríguez | ||||
| Elena Vadillo | ||||
| 2009 (24th) | Laura Valiente | |||
| Magdalena Rivas | ||||
| Miranda | ||||
| Hypatia | ||||
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 (25th) | Florència | |||
| Alba | ||||
| Alícia | ||||
| Julia Levin / Sara | ||||
| 2011 (26th) | Vera Cruz / Gal Ledgard | |||
| Laia | ||||
| Luisa Gómez | ||||
| Hortensia Rodríguez | ||||
| 2012 (27th) | Encarna | |||
| Gemma | ||||
| Mercè | ||||
| María Bennet | ||||
| 2013 (28th) | Ana | |||
| Ruth Belloso | ||||
| Ella | ||||
| Geni Moncada | We All Want What's Best for Her | |||
| 2014 (29th) | Bárbara | |||
| Sara | Marseille | Marsella | ||
| Montse | ||||
| Lupe | They Are All Dead | |||
| 2015 (30th) | Rocío Gómez | |||
| The Bride | ||||
| Magda | ||||
| Josephine Peary | ||||
| 2016 (31st) | Julieta Arcos | |||
| Macarena Granada | ||||
| María Funes | ||||
| Rosa | The Open Door | |||
| 2017 (32nd) [4] | Carla Miralles | |||
| Florence Green | ||||
| Virginia Vallejo | ||||
| Carmen | ||||
| 2018 (33rd) [5] | Anabel Barnuevo | |||
| Lila Cassen | ||||
| Laura | ||||
| Estrella Aranda | ||||
| 2019 (34th) [6] | Rosa Domínguez | |||
| Jacinta | ||||
| Sara Garrido | ||||
| Elena | ||||
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (35th) [7] [8] [9] | Lide Sagasti | |||
| Ana Ibarguren | ||||
| Lola Cruz | ||||
| Rosa Román | ||||
| 2021 (36th) [10] | Maixabel Lasa | |||
| Berta | ||||
| María | ||||
| Janis Martínez Moreno | ||||
| 2022 (37th) [11] [12] | Amaia | |||
| Olga Denis | As bestas | |||
| Julia | Wild Flowers | Girasoles silvestres | ||
| Alice Gould | God's Crooked Lines | Los renglones torcidos de Dios | ||
| Elena | Cork | Suro | ||
| 2023 (38th) [13] | Lucía | Something Is About to Happen | Que nadie duerma | |
| Ane | 20.000 especies de abejas | |||
| Ramona | ||||
| Nat | Un amor | |||
| Conchita | Jokes & Cigarettes | Saben aquell | ||
The following individuals received two or more Best Actress awards:
| Wins | Actress |
|---|---|
| 3 | Carmen Maura |
| 2 | Cecilia Roth |
| Lola Dueñas | |
| Verónica Forqué | |
| Emma Suárez | |
| Maribel Verdú | |
| Penélope Cruz |
The following individuals received three or more Best Actress nominations:
| Nominations | Actress |
|---|---|
| 12 | Penélope Cruz |
| 8 | Victoria Abril |
| Maribel Verdú | |
| 6 | Emma Suárez |
| 5 | Carmen Maura |
| Ariadna Gil | |
| 4 | Ana Belén |
| Adriana Ozores | |
| 3 | Elena Anaya |
| Inma Cuesta | |
| Lola Dueñas | |
| Verónica Forqué | |
| Bárbara Lennie | |
| Ángela Molina |