MERCARTES CONFERENCE
07.12.2021
During the 30th of November and 1st of December 2021 we joined Mercartes, a theatre fair in Valladolid (Spain), for the second time. On the 2nd of November we also joined the conference organized by the same organization, addressing the scenic arts sector in Spain.
The conference was split in 3 blocks: introduction of the conclusions found in a study about the impact of Covid-19 in the scenic arts, introduction of the conclusions found in the Niebla Project (a study analysing the situation of the scenic arts and music industry in the country from the legal and fiscal perspective) and an open discussion forum.
• Some of the conclusions from the study about the Covid-19 impact (a project carried by Teknecultura and supported by FAETEDA and La Red de Teatros, presented by Andreu Garrido) were:
- BEFORE COVID: The situation was already bad, since the 2008 crisis the industry was not yet fully recovered. During the 2008-2018 period the public spending in scenic arts fell a 38%.
- AFTER COVID: The activity of the sector was reduced in half in 2020. The total income got -63,9% reduced in comparison with 2019.
- PUBLIC VS PRIVATE VENUES: The public venues recovered their activity before the private ones did, with 32,8% less shows compared to 2019. The private venues opened later, when the pandemic situation improved (-53% shows). Due to them having more economic dependency on the sold tickets. As a consequence, the public venues had a worse average occupancy (-3,2%) compared to 2019, whereas the private ones had a better average occupancy (8,1%).
- MAIN PRIORITIES FOR THE NEAR FUTURE: There is an agreement between public and private sectors regarding the upcoming priorities. The two main areas that need improvement in the near future are: increase of the public budget for culture and decrease of the cultural VAT.
• The main goal of the Niebla Project (presented by Juan Antonio Estrada (Festival Castillo de Niebla), Isabel Vidal (FAETEDA) y Antoni Tarrida (Mercat de les Flors)) is:
- Analysing the legal environment which regulates the scenic arts sector in Spain and its activities to find out which areas are in need of a change to adapt to the current era, as well as evaluating which laws should be removed or included to the legal framework.
- Some of the main areas to analyse are: public tenders, taxation, creative processes or scenic arts in collaboration with education.
If you are interested in knowing more about these projects, you can open and download the documents by clicking on the bolded text.