The new aid programme aims to revitalise and boost the cultural sector in Spain, reducing the negative impact caused by the pandemic, and encouraging young people to consume cultural products.
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The text received a total of 30 contributions during the public hearing phase, which ended on 15 February.
The programme will be managed through a specific technological platform for the collaborating organisations involved.
People who turn 18 in 2022, some 500,000 throughout Spain, will be able to benefit from this aid, included in the General State Budget for 2022 with an allocation of 210 million euros.
Each beneficiary will be able to allocate up to 200 euros to live arts, cultural heritage and audiovisual arts; a maximum of 100 euros to cultural goods in physical format; and another 100 euros to digital or online consumption.
The total amount granted will be paid in a single payment, in the form of a nominal virtual prepaid card.
Cultural Voucher
The Council of Ministers has approved the proposal of the Minister of Culture and Sport, the Royal Decree that regulates the Bono Cultural Joven, with which young people who turn 18 in 2022 will have 400 euros for the purchase and enjoyment of cultural products, services and activities.
The Government is promoting this new aid programme with the aim of revitalising and boosting the cultural sector in Spain, guaranteeing the sustainability of the cultural and creative industries after the negative impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; as well as fostering universal and diversified accessibility to culture, promoting loyalty among young people that generates the habit of consuming cultural products.
The approved text has taken into account the contributions received during the hearing and public information process, which took place from 4 to 15 February 2022. In total, 30 contributions were received, four of them from autonomous communities, and the remaining 26 from individuals and legal entities. Among those accepted, the text includes the one relating to the exemption from the calculation of the amount of this aid for the purposes of calculating income and family wealth thresholds; or the one that foresees the possibility of publishers or authors themselves being able to make online sales of their cultural products with home delivery.
In parallel to the hearing process, the Ministry of Culture and Sport has been holding meetings with representatives of the cultural sector, associations and organisations to directly address the development of the Bono Cultural Joven.
It is estimated that almost 500,000 young people from all over Spain can benefit from this aid, which is included in the General State Budget for 2022 with an allocation of 210 million euros. They are aimed at individuals who turn 18 during the calendar year in which the aid is requested.
In drafting the text, the Ministry of Culture and Sport has followed the experience of other countries such as France and Italy, which also set the age of 18 for their beneficiaries, considering that the age of majority implies, in addition to the assumption of duties and rights, the possibility of inaugurating autonomy in terms of their decisions in many areas, including the cultural sphere.
The decree establishes that spending will be distributed and diversified among three different sectors, with maximum amounts for each. The voucher is expected to subsidise live arts, cultural heritage and audiovisual arts up to a maximum of 200 euros per beneficiary. It will be divided between tickets and season tickets for performing arts, live music, cinema, museums, libraries, exhibitions and performing, literary, musical or audiovisual festivals.
It also includes subsidies for cultural products in the physical format up to a maximum of 100 euros: books; magazines, newspapers, or other periodicals; video games, musical scores, records, CDs, DVDs or Blu-ray.
100 for digital or online consumption: subscriptions and rentals to music, reading or audio-reading or audiovisual platforms, purchase of audiobooks, purchase of digital books (known as e-books), subscription to download multimedia files (known as podcasts), subscriptions to online video games, digital subscriptions to newspapers, magazines or other periodicals. Such subscriptions shall be limited to a maximum of four months.
Glosario