Teatro Emperador of León, Theater building in León, Spain.

The Teatro Emperador is a theater building in León with a horseshoe-shaped main hall spread across multiple levels that accommodates around 1,300 spectators. The structure contains several floors with a stage area plus shops and offices within the same building.

The building opened in 1951 following a design by architect Manuel de Cárdenas Pastor and initially served as a cinema and performance venue. It operated for more than 50 years before closing in 2006.

The theatre's name comes from the Empresa Leonesa de Espectáculos, which commissioned it and held a monopoly on cinema and stage shows in León. Its 1946 first plan seated 1,378 people with separate entrances for stalls and amphitheatre, enforcing the class divisions of the era. The 1949 final design kept 1,367 seats across stalls, mezzanine, amphitheatre and ten boxes.

The building is closed to the public, so visits are limited to the exterior. It stands at the junction of Santa Nonia and Independencia, in León's ensanche, and can be reached on foot from the old town. Look up at the corner tower, raised two floors to give the square more height.

The 1949 final design added two floors to the corner tower at the junction of Santa Nonia and Independencia, because the city council demanded greater height to embellish the square. The building is listed at protection level 2 in León's PECU plan for how it resolves that crossroads.