Spain to host IIFA awards 2016 this june

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards is returning to Europe for the second time with Madrid, Spain, hosting the 2016 edition from June 23 to 26.

This is the fourth time IIFA will be traveling to Europe, twice it was held in UK and once in Amsterdam.

"We are extremely excited to announce that IIFA 2016 will travel to Europe again. We had been working on Madrid for many years and as 2016 marks the 60-year friendship between India and Spain, we feel this is the right time to showcase our culture and Bollywood there," Andre Timmins, Director, IIFA and Wizcraft, told PTI over phone from Madrid.

Timmins revealed that the other contending countries to host this year's three-day filming extravaganza were America, Macau and Abu Dhabi. "We zeroed in on Madrid because we feel that the place is best for our industry. We also have been welcomed by the



Mayor of Madrid, who is hosting us here. It's just the right time."

The new venue aims to reach out to the huge Latin Amrtican market for Indian films.

"Spanish is the largest speaking language in the world. So, it will be a springboard for Indian films there as it's less popular in Spain. But we aim that after our awards people will be much aware about Indian films," Andre said.

Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Hrithik Roshan are already in the south-western European country to create awareness about Indian cinema by performing a huge flash mob on their popular songs.

In the last 17 years, IIFA has travelled to four continents including Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. This will be the 17th edition of the awards ceremony which will be held in IFEMA convention center and is coinciding with the pouplar Mulafest.