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Visitors to a concert by the Spanish rock band Love of Lesbian in Barcelona
Photo: Emilio Morenatti / AP / picture alliance / dpa
To cushion the hardships of the corona pandemic, young people in Spain receive a cultural voucher.
Everyone who will turn 18 next year should receive a voucher worth 400 euros from the government.
But it cannot be used indefinitely: the recipients cannot buy tickets for bullfights with it.
The decision was one of the politically controversial measures that the government included in the 2022 draft state budget.
The vouchers are intended to help the country's culture and events industry recover from the loss of income during the corona lockdowns.
According to the government, eligible teenagers can spend their 400 euros on cinema and theater tickets, books and concerts, for example.
Bullfighting organizers are not among the profiteers
Bullfighting organizers also wanted to be there, but had few supporters in the government coalition of the center-left party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the left-wing alliance Podemos.
Conservative opposition parties criticized the government for ruling out bullfighting.
The Fundacion Toro de Lidia, which represents the interests of fighting bull breeders, pointed out that Spanish law classifies bullfighting as part of the country's cultural heritage.
The Ministry of Culture announced in a written communication to the state news agency Efe that "not everything that our legislation regards as culture will fall under this cultural support." meanwhile refused.
According to estimates by the Spanish government, almost half a million people are entitled to the vouchers, which are said to cost the state around 190 million euros.
France and Italy have taken similar steps to support their cultural sectors during the pandemic.
The draft budget still needs to be voted on in Parliament
The draft budget aims to promote an economic recovery after the pandemic through massive public investments - also with funds from the European Union.
The government is aiming for the Spanish gross domestic product to grow by 7 percent for the next year.
The Spanish central bank Banco de España expects growth of 6.3 percent this year and 5.9 percent next year.
According to government projections, the budget deficit is expected to fall to 5 percent of gross domestic product next year, compared to an estimated 8.4 percent this year.
Due to the assumed economic recovery, tax revenues are expected to rise.
Officials are said to receive a 2 percent raise.
Pensions will also be increased in line with inflation, with the lowest pensions expected to rise by at least 3 percent next year.
A debate on the draft budget is scheduled for next week in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament.
Then it should be voted on.
The parliamentarians' acceptance of the proposal is seen as a test of the strength of the government.
jso / AP
