Price Cinema

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Cultural spaces · Subcategory: Theaters · Year: 1949 · Authors: Tomás Machado y Méndez Fernández de Lugo

The Price is one of the few historic cinemas in Santa Cruz that still, miraculously, operates as a cinema, now converted into a multiscreen venue. Its location remains the same, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood, although the building it currently occupies is newly constructed. 

The first Price building was designed by architect Tomás Machado and Méndez Fernández de Lugo for businessman Antonio Saavedra Carballo. The cinema was located on the ground floor of a residential building with a façade of little visual impact. It only came alive at night through the large illuminated sign it had and the large windows at its entrance.  

The interior had a rectangular floor plan with the projection booth situated above the main lobby, at the same level as the screen. The stalls had a capacity of 300 spectators.

It was inaugurated on 26 January 1949 with the film The Waters Run Black (1948), a Spanish period drama directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia.

Throughout its history, the Price underwent several renovations: first in 1953; ten years later it suffered a complete remodel. In 1989 it was demolished and a year later the building we see today was erected, where a six-screen multiplex was then opened. In 2005 ownership changed hands and it was renamed Multicines Renoir-Price until its closure eight years later. Finally, on 26 September 2018 it reopened to the public under the name Price Prime.

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