8.10 Current debates and reforms
The Culture and Citizenship meetings are annual events organized cooperatively between the General State Administration and the Autonomous Communities to present projects, whether public, private or mixed, aligned with the theme chosen for each of them. This provides a space for reflection and debate in which any person, group, association or entity leading a cultural project in and/or promoted from Spain can participate. The topics addressed in the last two meetings have been:
- The challenges posed by democratization and access to culture, framed in the production-consumption dichotomy. The central debates were the understanding of new institutions and how public space, citizenship, challenges and possibilities of cultural policies are constructed in the context of the new digital culture of the 21st century.
- Cultural diversity and the presence of minorities in culture, the spaces occupied by under-visibilized narratives and aesthetics, and the responsibilities of cultural institutions and sectors in this regard.
By the end of 2023, the role of culture in the territories and its importance for the reconstruction of identities and social and territorial cohesion will be addressed, as well as the transforming role that the most emerging agents and youth are acquiring as political, social and cultural subject(s). In addition, taking advantage of the fact that the meeting will be held within the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the importance of networking in the sector and the idea of culture as an interrelated ecosystem will be discussed.
The latest government reforms in the field of culture have been:
- Measures to support the cultural sector and tax measures to address the COVID-2019 social economic impact of being one of the most affected. The cultural sector is understood as the entire business and professional fabric that provides support, service and necessary infrastructure and includes the entire value chain.
- The Artist's Statute, which includes a series of proposals with the intention of improving the working conditions of the artist, in the broadest sense, referring not only to artists in public performances but to all creators, performers and technicians, regardless of their age or gender. Work is currently underway to improve this statute.
- New reduced cultural (VAT tax levy): In 2017, after continuous protests from cultural agents, the Government lowered the value added taxation of live shows such as theater, dance, opera, circus, etc. and in 2018 the tax on film screenings was also implemented.