One of the main objectives of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport for the period 2017-2020, included in the Culture Plan 2020 of the State Secretariat for Culture, is to encourage cultural participation through initiatives such as the modernisation of facilities (archives, libraries, museums, etc.) new programmes of the Spanish Film Archive to attract young people to the cinema and audiovisual arts; plans aimed to develop new publics for museums the access to cinema in rural and small urban areas; and a virtual map for performing arts activities and facilities. In 2018, the Ministry of Culture and Sport organised the Culture and Citizenship edition on the topic of Education, Mediation and New Audiences. Currently, a White Book for the Promotion of the Audiences of the Arts is being discussed by the sector. To inform audiences about cultural activities, the Ministry’s online portal and the channel Cultura (Culture Channel) allow access to audiovisual content on the cultural activity carried out by the Ministry and its institutions.
Traditionally, the main initiatives to foster participation in culture at the regional level are those based on the creation or restoration of performing arts institutions (mainly as part of the National Plan of Rehabilitation of Theatres and Concert Halls) or the establishment of networks for the performing arts and music circulation. Contemporary arts centres built in recent times and some symphonic orchestras and auditoriums also carry out activities aimed at generating new concert- or exhibition-goers by means of introductory programmes for potential enthusiasts. There are numerous initiatives to promote cultural participation and consumption at the regional and local levels, for example:
- the Abecedaria Programme, promoted by the Andalusian Department of Education, Culture and Sport, is a circuit of performing arts, music and audiovisual performance for students in the Andalusian municipalities. In September 2009, it received the award for the most effective initiative to attract new audiences in Spain, given by the International Fair of Theatre and Dance in Huesca (Aragon, 23rd Edition);
- the Escena 25 is an initiative of the Catalan Department of Culture to increase attendance to performing arts of people 18-25 years by offering tickets from EUR 3;
- the Valencian Cultural Bonus is an initiative of the Department of Culture of the Valencian Community that provides economic and operational advantages, with 21% tax deductions in the amount spent on cultural bonus. It is a measure aimed at Valencian people with an annual income of less than EUR 50 000;
- the Bizkaiko Kultur Txartela is a cultural bonus (EUR 40) launched by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia (in the Basque Country) aimed to promote cultural consumption;
- the Cultural Bonus is an initiative of the government of Aragón that provides discounts ranging from 30% to 70% for young people (12-35 years old) on cultural;
- the JOBO. Young Cultural Bonus is an initiative of the Madrid City Council to increase attendance to cinema and performing arts of 16-26-year-olds by offering free entrance.
The Youth Institute and similar institutes at the regional level distribute the “Euro<26 Card” to increase cultural consumption among youth, which gives discounts between 10% and 100% on tickets for museums, theatres, cinemas and music festivals. There are also discounts available for pensioners and students, usually provided by local authorities, including free entrance to museums and discounts on cinema and theatre tickets.
With the aim of encouraging attendance to the movie theatres, two recent private initiatives have been launched by the most representative associations of the film industry. The first edition of the three-day “Festival of Cinema” took place at the end of 2013 and the ticket price was EUR 2.90.
Following the success of this
initiative, the campaign “Wednesdays at Cinema” was launched in 2014. From
January 15th till April 15th, cinema visitors could watch
a film for a reduced ticket price every Wednesday. Both initiatives are aimed
at promoting film culture and facilitating attendance to cinemas and have proved
to be very successful. In collaboration with the National Institute of Film and
Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), both initiatives were continued.
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