With respect to higher education, arts courses are offered within and outside of universities, as university qualifications or higher-level arts education. Almost all of the students who take arts courses at university level, studied arts at secondary school. In this respect, fine arts is the only university degree in Spain that has a specific secondary school qualification.
University studies are organised into undergraduate courses (bachelor’s degrees) and postgraduate courses (master’s degrees, postgraduate programmes, doctoral programmes, etc.). The qualifications that can be obtained are officially recognised in the entire Spanish state as University-specific degrees. The so-called “Bologna Process”, that started in 2005 with pilot schemes in some areas and in both university cycles, officialised these undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 2010. In terms of fine arts courses, the Spanish universities offer degrees in fine arts, design and conservation and restoration.
In 2011, the Ministry of Education approved the Royal Decree 707/2011 that creates the specialty of Flamenco in the higher training cycle of Music, within the scheme of arts education. With this new specialty, the Ministry sought to ensure the preservation of an art traditionally linked to oral transmission.
According to the Cultural Statistics Yearbook 2018, students enrolled in university courses related to cultural professions increased to 18.362 in the academic year 2016-2017, which is 12% of university education.
In the last ten years, there have been many higher education programmes for professionals employed in the cultural industries. Catalonia was one of the first Autonomous Communities to cater for the sector. For many years now, the Pompeu Fabra University has offered Master’s programmes in animation, design, film and audiovisual, publishing and editing, sound and music computing. Also, it provides several postgraduate diplomas, for example, in editing and creating video games and global music business.
The University of Barcelona offers Master’s programmes in cultural management, artistic mediation, management of cultural institutions and companies, world heritage and cultural projects for development. For many years, it has been providing postgraduate diplomas in international cooperation and cultural management, performing arts, festivals production and management, creative territories, cultural tourism and the design of cultural projects.
The Open University of Catalonia, in collaboration with the University of Girona, offers a Master programme in cultural management. The International University of Catalonia offers several Master programmes in arts and cultural management, as well as postgraduate programmes in cultural management and creative cultural industries.
The Carlos III University of Madrid offers a Master’s degree in film and television and in tourism management of cultural and natural resources. The University of Valladolid has a Master’s degree in economics of culture and cultural management. At graduate level, the University of Barcelona launched a degree in communication and cultural industries for the first time in the academic year 2011-2012 and the University of Huelva offers a Degree in Cultural Management since 2012-2013.
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