El Pecado International Short Film Competition

El Pecado is a festival that offers free, open-air film screenings in locations of special tourist and architectural interest in Llerena.

It is an international short film festival that has featured the best short films produced in Spain and abroad over the past 24 years. Numerous films that participated in El Pecado have won awards or been nominated at other festivals such as the Goya Awards, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Academy Awards.

Over the years, the festival has also welcomed award-winning filmmakers such as Borja Cobeaga, Esteban Crespo, Kae Bahar, Bernabé Rico, José Luis Alemán, Kepa Sojo, Isabel de Ocampo, Gabe Ibáñez, Oskar Santos, Alex Pastor, Toni Bestard, Javier Fesser, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

More than 85,000 people have attended its various editions, during which a total of some 12,000 short films have been submitted.

The El Pecado International Short Film Festival has been awarded the “Festival Amigo” seal by the Fugaz Awards. These awards are presented annually by Corto España to recognize the best professionals across various specialties in Spanish short film. The festival aims to be the short-film-focused equivalent of the Goya Awards.

Iconic city landmarks such as Plaza de la Merced and Cieza de León Park are transformed into cinematic venues on warm August nights, where visitors can enjoy free screenings of the official selection of works submitted to the festival.

El Pecado is the festival in Extremadura that receives the most short films, screens the most, and attracts the largest audience.

In 2026, it will reach its twenty-fifth edition and will be held from August 5 to 7.

Places of special interest where you can enjoy cinema in Llerena.

In the Plaza de la Merced stands the city’s current Cultural Center, built in what was once the chapel of the old Jesuit school. The design of this building is attributed to Brother Francisco Bautista, and its construction was completed in 1715. It is a building constructed by the Society of Jesus to house its educational center. It follows the model of the Church of the Gesù in Rome and features a Latin cross plan with a slightly marked transept, a single nave with a barrel vault and lunettes, chapels between buttresses, and a dome supported by pendentives over the transept, which is reflected on the exterior by a monumental cupola.

This building, together with the former Tax Collection Palace of the Mesa Maestral—also built by the Order of Santiago in the 16th century in the Mudejar style—forms the current La Merced Cultural Complex.

One of the best-preserved sections of Llerena’s walled enclosure is located in Cieza de León Park.

In medieval times, the town center of Llerena was surrounded by a walled enclosure. Its origin is uncertain, though it is possible that Don Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa, Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, ordered its construction between 1387 and 1404. However, there are also indications that it may date from the early 14th century. The entire wall remained intact until the mid-19th century.

The walled enclosure completely enclosed the city and served a defensive purpose. Additionally, in the event of epidemics, the wall’s function was to isolate the area.

Communication between the urban enclosure and the outside world took place through four main gates oriented according to the cardinal directions: Villagarcía to the north, Reina to the south, Valencia to the east, and Montemolín to the west. The gates served a fiscal function, with taxes collected on nearly all goods entering the city for subsequent sale.

In addition to these gates, there were also a number of smaller gates or passageways that provided access to the city in areas between the main gates; the one located precisely in what is now Cieza de León Park, known as Portillo del Sol, is perfectly preserved.

This space honors one of Llerena’s most renowned illustrious figures, considered one of the principal chroniclers of the Indies. At just 15 years old, he set off for the Americas, a continent where he participated in various expeditions; and although he emigrated as a soldier, his natural curiosity and humanistic interests drove him to devote much of his free time to writing his chronicles. He was called “The Prince of the Chroniclers of the Indies” and is the author of the “Chronicles of Peru,” a collection of books that is fundamental and indispensable for understanding pre-Columbian America. In his memory, a monument has been erected at this site, consisting of a sculpture depicting him reclining on a bed of rocks as he writes, recalling what he himself recounted in his chronicles: “while others rested, I tired myself out writing.”