CINEMA spectators have exceeded 100 million for the first time since 2009, having plummeted when IVA on tickets rose in September 2012 from 4% to 21%.
But in 2016, a total of 100.27 million people decided the extra cash was worth shelling out to see some of the excellent box office hits that the year brought, including Monster with Sigourney Weaver, which brought in 4.5 million viewers and over €26 million; The Jungle Book, watched by nearly three million and raising €16.8m in ticket sales, and the Goya winner Palmeras en la Nieve ('Palm trees in the snow'), which was released in 2015 but still in cinemas by the beginning of 2016, grossing €12.17m and being enjoyed by 1.88 million spectators.
Other popular films included the Disney cartoon Finding Dory, with 3.19 million spectators and earning €17.6m in Spain; the 3D animated comedy The Secret Life of Pets, with 3.8 million viewers and a €21.3m haul; and the Mexican-American Oscar-winner The Revenant, with 2.19 million spectators and grossing €14.2m.
Palmeras en la Nieve sold more tickets than Rogue One, the latest Star Wars film, which earned €11.38m and was watched by 1.8 million people, the same number as the DC Comics anti-hero action film, The Suicide Squad, which earnt €11.2m.
Zootropolis attracted 2.29 million viewers and €13.4m, and the British fantasy Warner Bros production Fantastic beasts and where to find them, enjoyed by two million spectators and grossing €13m.
In total, the film industry in Spain in 2016 was worth €601.77m, being a 5% increase on the previous year, with a 6% rise in spectators.
Spanish films broke the €100m barrier for the first time in years, with 18.14 million spectators.
Popular productions included the comedy Villaviciosa de al Lado ('Villaviciosa next door'), followed by Cien años de perdón ('100 years of pardon'); Cuerpo de élite ('Élite body'); Kiki: El amor se hace ('Kiki: Love is made'); Ocho apellidos catalanes ('Eight catalán surnames', the sequel to the massive hit Ocho apellidos vascos, or 'Eight Basque surnames'); El hombre de las mil caras ('The man with 1,000 faces'); and Zipi y Zape y la isla del capitán ('Zipi and Zape and the captain's island').
A total of 57% of spectators went to the cinema at the weekends, with Wednesday being a favourite weekday, largely because most film theatres offer heavy discounts on Wednesday nights.
In fact, during the nationwide 'film festival' on Wednesday, October 26, when prices dropped by over 50%, more than 1% of the total number of viewers for the year flocked to their nearest multiplex – nearly 1.1 million.
Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia were the provinces with the most viewers, followed by Alicante, Sevilla, Málaga, Murcia, the Balearics, the northern part of the Canary Islands, and Zaragoza.
Photograph: Fantastic beasts and where to find them, on YouTube
