• Barcelona, ​​Gaudí, lberado
  • The uncertain cultural de-escalation: reduced capacity, security measures ...

«A difficult year is coming. I don't know how we are going to balance the accounts. We will have to put a candle to San Rafael ». The Archangel San Rafael is the patron saint of Córdoba, the city that has found one of its main sources of wealth in the Mosque-Cathedral . In 2018, only the Mosque box office entered 15.1 million euros, 91.5% of its budget. "For 20 years or so, we have not received money from the Administration," they explain from the Bishopric of Córdoba. Their tickets cost 10 euros and there are never any nasty crowds.

Now, after two months and 10 days of alarm and with the collapse of tourism as one of the most serious consequences of the pandemic, the problems come to the management of heritage. How to pay for the maintenance of monuments such as the Mosque if there are no tourists? According to the annual memory of the bishopric, preserving the building and its treasures cost almost 5.3 million euros. “Until now, the means were sufficient to do a very complete job . There is a conservation team that is permanently undertaking repairs, and then there are concrete restoration projects that take years and are very verbose. Depending on the status of that project, the conservation budget ranges from 30 to 40% of total spending. "

New stage

Drop down

The slow reopening calendar

National Heritage. Most of its centers are in lagging Spain: Madrid, Castilla y León ... The gardens of Aranjuez have already opened and those of Sabatini will do so on Monday. Yuste Palace could open next week.

Roman Merida. The archaeological site of the Extremaduran capital expects to admit visitors from next Tuesday.

Andalusia. Granada is still in phase one, so the Alhambra is on hiatus. In Córdoba, the Mosque does not have a reopening date. In other treasures managed by the Board, the Health conditions are expected to be implemented: Sancti Petri, Medina Azahara ... The Andalusian Center for Contemporary Art has already opened.

Gaudian Barcelona. In the Sagrada Familia the adaptation works have not yet started. The capacity will be reduced to 2,000 people. La Pedrera does not yet have a planned opening date.

National museums. Cartagena and Mérida have postponed their opening, previously scheduled for Monday 25.

All over Spain there are similar cases. In Granada, the Alhambra made 30 million at the box office in 2019, which allowed it to cover 93% of its costs. Its tickets cost 14 euros. In Seville, the Cathedral entered 15.5 million thanks to its visitors, 99% of its budget. Its conservation expenses are 4.7 million. There are no state transfers at either of the two monuments. In Extremadura, the archaeological site of Mérida received 74% of its budget from ticket sales. The rest comes from the Junta de Extremadura. In National Heritage monuments, that percentage drops to 20%. The exception is the Cathedral of Santiago, which is a place of pilgrimage and, therefore, does not charge entrance (its museum does). Administrations are currently paying for its restoration, which must conclude before the 2021 Jubilee.

At the opposite extreme is the richest box office in Spain, that of the Sagrada Familia. «The annual budget of the Sagrada Familia for 2019 was 103 million euros, of which 55 million euros were allocated to construction. Last year just over 4 million people visited the basilica, "they explain from Barcelona. Antoni Gaudí wrote that the basilica was to be financed only through donations and this has been done: donations are today tickets that sell for 17 euros. "Most of the budget comes from the box office."

A practical case

Drop down

The example of National Heritage

In 2018, a total of 3,530,132 people visited the Palaces and Monasteries of National Heritage, an increase of 3.61% compared to the previous year. This meant income from ticket sales of 19,066,530 euros, out of a total of 117,427,595.70 euros of total budget. (in percentage, 16.23%) In addition, it represents 2.38% more revenue from ticket sales compared to 2017. In 2019 box office revenue amounted to 21,782,349 euros, out of a total revenue budget of 117,428,670 million euros. (in percentage, 18.5%).

And there are even more surprising cases: « Albarracín is an example of exemplary management. In a town of 4,000 inhabitants, cultural tourism generates seven million euros annually. The investment in conservation is 300,000 euros, so the return is extraordinary », explain sources from the Ministry of Culture.

The bad news is that not all of Spain's historical heritage is as easy to sell as Gaudí or the Alhambra. How much does it cost to maintain the set of hermitages, walls and archaeological remains that do not have ticket offices or the ability to attract sponsorships? The last time someone made that calculation was in 2001, in a study by the Complutense University (Alonso Hierro and Martín Fernández) that gave the figure of 1,526 million euros. If we consider the inflation of the last 19 years, we would be around 2,200 million euros. According to the Ministry, the autonomous communities pay 60% and the State, another 40%.

"According to 2019 data, before the pandemic, of the 83 million tourists who visited Spain between 16 and 18% arrived for tourist-cultural reasons," they continue explaining in the Ministry. "We are still far from reaching the figures of some European countries such as France and Italy , where cultural tourism accounts for up to 60% of total tourism."

This year, the tourism of the Spanish will be "proximity". There will be no bridges in London but excursions around the peninsula, for those who can. The confidence in many of these institutions is that the closure of local visitors alleviates the disaster of international tourism.

The other door that is open is that of crowdfunding, which in 2016 allowed 240 million euros for individuals to become investments in culture. Much of that money went to the restoration of the historical heritage. "At this time the impact of crowdfunding is not significant in the conservation of heritage, but measures such as those proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, with deductions of 80% of personal income tax on the first 150 euros and 35/40% on The rest will promote this financing formula, which can also be very exemplary, "they explain from the Government.

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • art
  • culture
  • Lack of confidence
  • tourism
  • history
  • Architecture
  • Descaled

CultureLuis Gordillo, Antonio López and 19 other leading figures sign a complaint against the Government for neglecting contemporary art

CultureThe new norms of the uncertain and lonely cultural de-escalation

CinemaMore space, less queues, less jelly beans ... This will be the "new normal" of going to the cinema