A cinema afternoon in the centre of Madrid! To mark our centenary, on 22 July we transformed the Plaza del Callao into a spectacular open-air cinema, where attendees were able to watch one of cinema’s greatest hits – *Back to the Future* – on the main outdoor screen at Cines Callao. This free event, with limited capacity, was organised to thank the people of Madrid for their warm support over the years; and Telemadrid covered it extensively on its programme ‘Madrid Directo’.

To mark our centenary, the ‘Madrid Directo’ team, accompanied by Fran López-Gallego, director of Cines Callao, took a tour of some of the most iconic corners of this century-old building, uncovering the history, interesting facts and legacy of one of Madrid’s great cinema landmarks.

‘Soria: a front-row seat for the eclipse’. To mark the solar eclipse on 12 August, Soria Tourism is launching a campaign on the Callao City Lights screens to position itself as a prime location from which to view the event. The advert features images of Mount Valonsadero, very close to the capital of Soria, where this spectacular astronomical phenomenon will be clearly visible.

Last Wednesday, 22 July, the Plaza del Callao shifted its usual pace to 180 km/h to become an open-air cinema. To mark its centenary, Cines Callao held a free summer film screening of *Back to the Future*, one of the great classics of cinema, thereby bringing the cinematic experience into the public space for a few hours.

The event brought together Madrileños, time travellers and film lovers in one of the city’s busiest spots. Throughout the evening, the cinemas’ main outdoor screen became the centrepiece of a celebration designed to thank Madrid for the bond forged over a century of shared history.

The event took the Cines Callao experience beyond its auditoriums and revived the spirit of summer screenings: a film enjoyed together, an open square and the simple pleasure of sitting together to watch a story under the Madrid sky.

The birthday present was for Madrid

The celebration was based on a clear idea: after 100 years of receiving Madrid’s affection, Cines Callao wanted to return the favour with an open, free and shared experience. The anniversary thus became a gift for those who have filled its cinemas generation after generation.

The choice of *Back to the Future* added a special touch to the evening: a film about time travel to celebrate a building that has been part of the city’s cultural memory for a century.

For a few hours, this event transformed the Plaza del Callao from a place people simply pass through into a cinema and an open-air time capsule. It was a way of looking back, celebrating the present and sharing with Madrid the 100-year history of one of its most recognisable cultural venues.

About Cines Callao

Opened in 1926 and situated in Plaza del Callao, right in the heart of Madrid, Cines Callao is one of Spain’s most iconic cultural venues. Managed by Callao City Lights, a company within the group led by Josué Reyzábal, it combines film screenings with corporate events, premieres and major cultural gatherings. Its outdoor digital screens form part of the Circuito Gran Vía, one of the capital’s major outdoor digital advertising networks.

Further information: https://cinescallao.es

Cines Callao celebrated its centenary by bringing the cinema to the Plaza del Callao.

On 22 July, Cines Callao brought the cinema experience to the heart of Madrid with a free open-air screening of *Back to the Future*, as part of its centenary celebrations.

The film was shown on the cinemas’ outdoor screen, and the square was set up with 164 seats, as well as free popcorn and water for attendees.

During the evening, one of Europe’s busiest squares was transformed into a meeting place where locals and visitors alike could sit, socialise and enjoy the cinema together.

The initiative stemmed from a simple idea: after 100 years of receiving Madrid’s affection, Cines Callao wanted to return the favour.

The screens at Callao City Lights hosted the Spanish stock market debut of DIGI Spain, the telecommunications company belonging to the DIGI Communications Group, with a live broadcast of the bell-ringing ceremony, during which the company’s management team could be seen performing the symbolic gesture traditionally used to mark a company’s flotation. In this way, DIGI wished to share this significant milestone with its customers and the wider public; the operator is celebrating 18 years of operation in Spain in 2026.

The broadcast was synchronised across the screens at Callao City Lights, located on the façades of the Callao Cinemas, alongside others situated in Madrid’s Plaza del Callao. In addition to the live broadcast, the stock market listing was promoted throughout the day with a graphic featuring a blue background – the telecoms operator’s corporate colour – under the slogan ‘DIGI, Spain’s fastest fibre-optic service, goes public’.

The broadcast also featured speeches by Serghei Bulgac, CEO of the DIGI Communications Group, and Marius Varzaru, CEO of DIGI Spain, from the Madrid Stock Exchange Palace, as well as the festive atmosphere on the trading floor before and after the event.

DIGI Spain is a telecommunications operator that has been operating in the Spanish market since 2008, offering internet, landline and mobile phone services, as well as television services. It has its own high-performance fibre-optic network, enabling it to lead the market in internet access speeds; and, focusing on the residential segment, it operates 100 company-owned shops and has an extensive distribution network for marketing its services throughout Spain. Furthermore, since the second half of 2025, it has been rolling out its own mobile network.

The company is part of the DIGI Communications Group, which has over 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector. It originated in Romania, where its core business is based. As well as in Spain, it also operates in Portugal, Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

According to the latest official figures published by the company at the end of the first quarter of the year, it had more than 11.4 million customers, making it the fourth-largest operator in the Spanish market and one of the fastest-growing.

‘A new era takes off’ is the slogan for Riyadh Air’s new campaign on the 15 screens of the Circuito Gran Vía. The airline is promoting its three weekly flights between Madrid and Riyadh with an advert that invites viewers to discover some of the most iconic landscapes of the Saudi capital, with one of its aircraft flying overhead.

Last Thursday, 2 July, Cines Callao once again brought one of Madrid’s most recognisable corners to life with ¡Ay, Callao!, an exclusive invitation-only celebration that transformed its main auditorium into a contemporary cabaret. In the midst of Pride Week and as part of its centenary programme, the cinema demonstrated that its hundred years of history are not merely a matter of memory, but are also very much part of the present: with spectacle, freedom and a clear determination to continue surprising audiences.

The evening took as its starting point the provocative aesthetic of ‘Destape’ cinema—one of the great cultural phenomena of the Transition—reinterpreting it through a contemporary and festive lens. The result was a blend of cabaret, burlesque, humour, dance and live music that linked the history of popular Spanish cinema with the pulse of Madrid’s queer culture. More than a nostalgic evocation, ¡Ay, Callao! served as a celebration of freedom, diversity and spectacle, understood as a space for coming together.

Throughout the evening, the spirit of the ‘Destape’ and the contemporary queer scene interacted on stage with a shared energy: that of breaking the mould, celebrating difference and championing popular culture as a space where excess, emotion and freedom of expression have their place.

A venue transformed into a cabaret

The evening was hosted by Supremme de Luxe, an undisputed legend of Spanish drag and a central figure in our country’s LGBTIQ+ culture, who acted as master of ceremonies on a night where humour, music and audacity set the tone from the very start.

Also taking to the stage were Miss Loot, a burlesque artist and content creator; Santa Catalina, with a performance inspired by the glamour of classic cinema; and Alpilpil, the duo formed by Adrián Melero and Lucas Pulido, who brought their characteristic generational humour to a night designed to blend styles, eras and audiences.

The artistic and choreographic direction was handled by Alex G. Robles, a professional choreographer with over twenty years’ experience in theatre, dance and large-scale shows such as *Vuelve el Cabaret* and *La Dama de los Espejos*.

When Plaza de Callao also took centre stage

Before the indoor show began, the celebrations had already taken to the streets. From 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm, Pupi Poisson performed on the outdoor stage at Cines Callao, bringing the spirit of cabaret and Pride to Plaza del Callao and turning the entrance to the cinema into an initial open invitation to the people of Madrid and visitors alike.

The outdoor screens at Cines Callao complemented this opening up to the public space with a visual display inspired by the imagery of ‘El Destape’, projecting the event’s aesthetic onto one of the city’s busiest spots.

A photocall to kick off the evening

The photocall brought together big names such as Moises Nieto, Adrián Chico, Milo Quiles, Abel Arana, Bárbara Santa Cruz, Pino Montes de Oca, Sebastián Gallego and Ernesto Naranjo, as well as some of the rising stars of Spanish cinema, including Ana Garcés, Tomy Aguilera and Victoria Kantch – the trio starring in the new Netflix series *Oasis*. They all gathered to celebrate the centenary of cinema and Pride. Accompanied by burlesque dancers and backing singers, the guests’ arrival turned the entrance to Cines Callao into the first highlight of the evening.

From the show to the after-party

Inside the venue, the event took place in two parts, separated by an interval featuring light refreshments and an open bar. After the show, the celebrations continued with an after-party and a DJ set that kept the energy going well past midnight.

Glitter, fans and divas

The ‘Glitter & Divas’ dress code was on display throughout the evening in the form of glitter, feathers, sheer fabrics and extravagance. As a nod to popular Spanish culture, each guest also received a fan accompanied by a guide to its traditional language – a touch that made this icon part of the evening’s theatrical and social interplay.

A centenary looking to the present

‘Ay, Callao!’ was not just another event on the Cines Callao centenary calendar (1926–2026), but a way of updating its own narrative. For one night, the building ceased to be merely an icon of the Gran Vía and became an expanded stage: the auditorium, façade and square functioned as a single space for gathering, celebration and popular culture.

That gesture perhaps offered the most contemporary interpretation of the anniversary: celebrating a hundred years not as an ode to the past, but as an excuse to ask what might continue to happen within (and around) a place as iconic as this. At ¡Ay, Callao!, the answer came in the form of music, humour, performers on stage and a square watching in awe, reminding us that the history of a cinema is also written every time it reconnects with its audience.

Exclusive invitation-only event. Limited capacity.

‘As far as we’re concerned, you’d already have two stars.’ Hellmann’s, the national team’s official mayonnaise, is launching a campaign at Callao City Lights in support of Spain at the World Cup, whatever the outcome of the semi-final against France.

In the advert, a drop of mayonnaise becomes the second star worn by the World Cup winners when it happens to land on a national team shirt.

Congratulations, champions, on winning that new World Cup!!

For the second time in history, Spain has won the World Cup. An event that goes beyond sport, with several brands joining in by launching congratulatory campaigns on our screens. From Nike’s ‘Vamos’, highlighted with the brand’s logo, to Budweiser‘s ‘Bravo champions’, via Adidas’s ‘Star shine together’, Hellmann’s ‘You always had two stars’, and Media Markt‘s ‘Theory 116 has come true’, linking La Roja’s triumph to a promotion.

Here at Callao City Lights, we’re joining in with the congratulations!!!

Let’s go for the third one!!!

The audience for our screens continues to grow. During the first half of 2026, the impressions achieved by Circuito Gran Vía increased by 8 per cent compared with the same period the previous year.

According to data from Inspide, the 15 screens that make up our circuit achieved nearly 460 million impressions during that period: those at the Callao Cinemas, located in Spain’s most visited square and the third most visited in Europe, and those at the Lope de Vega, Coliseum and Rialto theatres, situated on Europe’s second busiest shopping street, Madrid’s Gran Vía.

Low-cost airline Wizz Air is appearing on the outdoor screens at Cines Callao and the Lope de Vega Theatre with a campaign that uses humour to issue a ‘last call’ to its brand ambassadors: Lorena Castell, Javi Hoyos and Jorge Cyrus.

The aim is to invite the audience to witness a fun social media campaign in which the three content creators will share their travel plans, secrets and the most unexpected anecdotes from their journeys.