Catalonia's Arts and Culture Council calls for further commitment to protect sector

Catalonia's National Arts and Culture Council (CoNCA) has stressed the need for a "national agreement" between Catalan institutions to protect the sector as it slowly emerges from a pandemic slump.

This agreement, its members said while presenting their 2021 report on Wednesday, should ensure Catalonia has a "well-articulated" cultural system that is "efficient" and not based on "ephemeral" aid packages.

It should also ensure cooperation between local and national entities in the interest of the general public.

According to CoNCA, in 2021 the sector was negatively impacted not only by the pandemic that began a year earlier, but also by the months-long caretaker government in Catalonia following the February 2021 election.

2021 facts and figures

While the sector had a 16% greater turnover than in 2020, a year marked by the lockdown and other pandemic restrictions, it was still far from a full recovery. 

Four times as many people visited visual arts centers and 75% more went to public museums last year than the year before, but there were still far fewer people who did than before the pandemic. 

And yet, the government did allocate 6.4% more funds towards cultural activities in 2021 than in 2020 – the equivalent of €139 per resident per year.

CoNCA, however, argues that Catalan authorities are doing far from enough to protect their sector: "They have only passed two laws relating to cultural policies since 2018, and both of them had to do with the Culture Departments' organizational aspects."