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1. Fostering equality and young people involvement through cultural activities

2. Combating discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

Fostering equality and young people involvement through cultural activities

Cultural participation is increasingly recognised in Spain as a key driver for equality and youth engagement in cultural life.

The National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música, INAEM) implements a range of inclusive-access measures in the performing arts and music sectors: elimination of sensory barriers (such as audio description, induction loops and subtitling systems), subsidies for equipment to reduce accessibility obstacles, introduction of Braille/multimedia guides, staff-training programmes and audience-feedback mechanisms to monitor accessibility. INAEM also participates in the Royal Board on Disability (Real Patronato sobre Discapacidad) to ensure cultural-sector representation in accessibility policymaking.

In July 2025, the Cultural Rights Plan (Plan de Derechos Culturales) was launched by the Ministry of Culture as the first national policy framework explicitly focused on guaranteeing cultural rights as a public responsibility. The Plan sets out 146 measures and allocates approximately €79 million (of which approximately €46 million are new public-investment lines) to promoting equality in cultural participation, territorial cohesion, youth access, and improved working conditions in the cultural and creative sectors.

In addition, the voucher mechanism such as the Bono Cultural Joven (Youth Cultural Voucher) (see Chapter 8.4) contributes to lowering socioeconomic barriers for young people’s cultural participation.

Another noteworthy example is the experimental dual-training programme Dual Training in Inclusive Crafts (Programa Formación Dual en Artesanía Inclusiva), run collaboratively by the National Reference Centre for Heritage Training (Centro de Referencia Nacional de Artesania) and social-inclusion partners, which offers young people with disabilities/social vulnerability training in craft skills and includes a certification pathway. In 2022 the initiative was awarded a national artisanal award.

These are part of a broader governmental strategy to make culture a tool for inclusion, complementing frameworks like the Cultural Rights Plan and the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia (2021‑2026), which highlight youth participation, territorial equity and social-inclusion outcomes in the cultural and creative sectors.

Recent Erasmus+ initiatives coordinated in Spain from 2023-2024 also highlight how art and culture promote inclusion and equality, complementing the national frameworks. Projects such as Cant-ARTE, TransicionARTEand 5 Arts 5 Senses engage young people and youth workers in participatory artistic processes addressing community transformation, environmental awareness and social integration.

Combating discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

Cultural policy in Spain increasingly recognises culture’s role in addressing poverty, discrimination, and social exclusion among young people. 

The national roadmap for children and adolescents, the Youth Guarantee State Action Plan 2022-2030 (Plan de Acción Estatal para la  Implementación de la Garantía Infantil Europea 2022-2030, PAEGIE) identifies the economic disadvantage of low-income families as a primary barrier to cultural participation. It commits to:

• expanding inclusive and accessible cultural offers for children and adolescents, and
• promoting free cultural activities for minors in vulnerable situations

These measures are coordinated by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Autonomous Communities.

The National Strategy for Social Inclusion of the Roma Population 2021-2030 (Estrategia Nacional de Inclusión Social de la Población Gitana 2021‑2030) supports the recognition, study and dissemination of Roma culture. It provides institutional backing to the Institute of Roma Culture (Instituto de Cultura Gitana) and supports cultural-heritage programmes and youth engagement in Roma culture.

To illustrate youth-targeted inclusion via heritage-skills training, the Dual Training in Inclusive Crafts (Programa Formación Dual en Artesanía Inclusiva) (see above) offers a concrete model for how craft training can promote employability and social inclusion of vulnerable youth.

Together, these initiatives show how national frameworks are using culture as an engine for social inclusion, aligning with rights-based strategies and targeting barriers of opportunity, discrimination and poverty.

The Erasmus+ project Young People Meet in Digital Stories Against Discrimination (2023-2024), coordinated in Spain, used digital storytelling as a creative tool to promote diversity and intercultural understanding among young Europeans. Supported by the Spanish National Agency for Erasmus+: Youth, it illustrates how publicly funded European initiatives integrate digital skills and creativity to address discrimination.