Granada set to get biggest drive-in movie theatre in Spain

Maribel Verdú and Leonor Watling are the proud owners of Autocine Madrid, the biggest drive-in cinema in the world and now they have an even bigger dream: to set up the biggest open-air movie theatre in Granada, the Spanish city where they studied and first met.

Autocine Madrid takes up a 30,000-square-metre plot of land in Madrid's Fuencarral district, near to the Cuatro Torres. "We have an impressive view of Madrid. The screen measures 250 metres and is indeed the biggest in the world. "And how does it work? The main idea is that the film is part of a bigger plan: before the screening there are concerts, activities and open restaurants. "We have the best hamburgers in Madrid".

The audience arrives two hours before the start of the film, which are usually premieres, but they also have classic film seasons. When they arrive with their car an usher positions the vehicle on the forecourt according to its height, so that everyone can see the film properly and the sound comes through the car radio on a FM frequency.

The cinema is popular with families and groups of friends but Crisitna and Tamara also say that it's "the number one on Tinder plans and Vogue magazine chose us as the most 'instagrammable' place in Spain".

The entrance fee per person is 22 euros and inside, the average cost for leisure and restaurants ranges from 12 to 35 euros. Since it opened in 2017 they have been increasing their turnover by 15 per cent a year until the Covid year, from 2020 to 2021, which they started to double. "We turn over six million euros a year, with a forecast for this year of eight million and ten million for 2026," they say. They add that every year "around 500,000 people pass through the drive-in" pointing out that that's "more people than Granada has".

"And there is one important fact that we like to emphasise: we have been profitable from the very first minute," says Cristina. Tamara adds that it "is that it is very rare in an entrepreneurial ecosystem to find two managers who are also best friends".

Cristina and Tamara have a clear objective: "We want to finish our adventure in Granada". In 2021 they made a first attempt to come to the south of Spain when they opened the Autocine Málaga with such an overwhelming success that "it went too well". The friends explain that "an investment fund came and bought the project from us".

"We want to set up a drive-in cinema in Granada, somewhere in the metropolitan area," says Tamara, smiling. "We've already had some proposals and if Granada aspires to be cultural capital in 2031 it sounds very good as a date to set up the second largest drive-in cinema in Europe in Granada. Yes, we set that as a goal."

It was on a terrace on Plaza del Limón in Madrid that Cristina approached a table and asked if an empty chair was occupied. Tamara said it wasn't and that Cristina said she could take it. It was then that they realised they knew each other. The two had studied business at the University of Granada and then lost touch.

Tamara Istambul spent four years at Banco Santander and then went on to work as a consultant in the UK, Mexico, Australia and Africa before settling in Madrid, while Cristina Porta began her professional career in London and Sweden.

"We both wanted to set something up and we loved the world of leisure in Madrid. We wanted to do something that didn't exist and a Brazilian friend, Fernanda, told us about the drive-in cinemas. We loved the idea." The two friends made a business plan in which they calculated an investment of 90,000 euros, but in the end it was more than half a million. "We got other companies to support us and it was a success."

Together they created Rita's (Rita is the name of Cristina's dachshund), the brand under which they organise all kinds of events. "With a capacity of more than 5,000 people, we had to make the most of it. We never stopped inventing". This is how other lines of business came about: corporate events, concerts, festivals and even filming, including Alejandro Sanz's latest music video.

And there is more. "In November we opened The Garage, an industrial building for concerts on the outskirts of Madrid, inspired by the nightclubs of Berlin. That's not counting the events that Rita's organises outside Madrid, including in Malta, Marbella and Tarifa "and hopefully soon in Granada".