Rosalía has added a major home honour to her international collection. On Wednesday 7 October, Spain’s Ministry of Culture announced that the Catalan singer, songwriter and producer has won the Premio Nacional de las Músicas Actuales 2026, the country’s National Prize for Contemporary Music. The award, granted through the national institute for the performing arts and music (INAEM), carries €30,000, as the ministry and RTVE reported.
Why the jury chose LUX
The jury, which met in Madrid and was chaired by Javier Monsalve Iglesias, the ministry’s director general of performing arts and music, singled out the artistic importance of her 2025 album LUX. In the ministry’s statement, it described the record as an “ambitious, innovative and transformative” piece of work that has won wide praise from critics and the public alike. The jury also valued her part in raising the global profile of Spanish music and her habit of bringing other artists into the creative process.
LUX, her fourth studio album, was released in November 2025, according to La Vanguardia, and took Rosalía on tour from March to September this year. It was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and features guest artists including Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Carminho, Björk and Estrella Morente. RTVE notes that the album is arranged in four movements, like a symphony, with lyrics in more than ten languages, a clear turn towards orchestral music.
A career of reinvention
Born in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, near Barcelona, in 1992, Rosalía released her debut album Los Ángeles in 2017 with producer and musician Raül Refree. El mal querer followed in 2018, co-produced with El Guincho and including the singles “Malamente” and “Pienso en tu mirá”, and in 2022 came Motomami, which mixed Latin urban rhythms, flamenco and electronic music. The ministry lists two Grammy Awards and thirteen Latin Grammys among her achievements.
The prize normally recognises a work released or performed during the previous year. Rosalía joins a list that began with Joan Manuel Serrat in 2009 and includes Amaral, Luz Casal, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Rodrigo Cuevas, Tulsa and, last year, saxophonist Antonio Serrano. ABC counts her as the 18th winner since the award was created.
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Sources: Spanish Ministry of Culture; RTVE; El País; La Vanguardia; ABC.
