Astoria Cinema

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Memory spaces · Year: 1951 · Authors: José Luis Jiménez Domínguez

The Astoria Cinema was one of the large cinemas located in the Guanarteme area. It occupied the lower floors of a building erected on a large plot which, in addition to the cinema, housed a warehouse and residences on the upper floors, naturally combining residential and commercial use.

The building was designed in 1948 by the architect José Luis Jiménez for the owners Juan Montesdeoca and Antonio Bolaños. The external configuration of the building was defined by varied elements drawn from Canarian regionalism combined with other neo-Baroque features, very fashionable at the time it was built, in the post-war period. Inside, the auditorium had a large capacity of 1080 seats, distributed among the stalls (ground floor), the balcony (second floor) and the boxes (third floor).

The Astoria Cinema was inaugurated on 13 June 1951 with the screening of the film The Son of Robin Hood from 1946, directed by Henry Levin and George Sherman. From a technical point of view, it was equipped with a SUPERSOND system. Ticket prices ranged from 3 to 6 pesetas depending on the seat location.

The cinema operated until 1985, when the Astoria closed its doors permanently and the building changed owners. What had been a cinema was converted into a nightclub; the rest of the building retained its residential function.

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