Javier Brun was Director of the Cultural Department of the Town Council of Huesca for 20 years. He is also Vice President of Interarts Foundation and a member of the board of Pepinières Européenes pour Jeunes Artistes. He was Secretary of the Forum of European Cultural Networks from 1998 to 1999.

Introduction

The primary conclusion made by anyone who reflects upon the Spanish cultural sector is that culture in Spain is highly decentralised. A large number of public agents are involved in the cultural sector, as the traditional tasks of the Ministry of Culture have been distributed among the 17 regional governments (Governments of the Autonomous Communities). As in many other countries, local administration takes on a more powerful function day by day. More than 50% of the total public expenditure for culture is distributed on a local basis).

On the other hand, as most of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are highly dependent on public funding, the Spanish cultural sector scene is rather diverse. This diversity derives from various factors; the historical tradition, the geopolitical situation and finally the distinction between urban and rural areas as well. Nevertheless, there are some common elements applicable to the entire Spanish situation.

With a view to both defining the term “independent sector” and focusing this analysis on a specific direction, we draw our attention to the traditional institutions involved in the third sector, also known as the non-profit sector. These institutions include:

· cultural associations

· foundations

· and Cajas de Ahorros (or Savings Banks), an extremely important category that is peculiar to Spain .

The last known research on this subject on a national level was published in 2000. The study registered around 250,000 non-profit institutions in Spain. The large majority of these, that is 175,000, were associations. Approximately 11% of these institutions were involved in culture. That represents nearly the same percentage of organisations involved in cooperation and development (a sector that normally monopolises the title NGOs in Spain). The percentage of cultural NGOs was much lower compared to the social services sector (31%) or the educational sector (25%), though it was slightly above the Western European average of 10%.

These numbers could lead us to the conclusion that the independent sector is highly important for culture in Spain. However, we should make a careful assessment, because there are many differences within the sector itself. Personally, I would opt for a quite negative evaluation. In general terms, Spanish NGOs are small, weak and they need professional training in terms of cultural management or international cooperation. Spain’s public bodies don’t trust NGOs to take responsibility for important cultural projects

Beyond macro-statistics, it would be opportune to analyse and distinguish three extremely significant categories: cultural associations, “independent” foundations and those depending on public bodies or financial institutions.

A historical review

In order to appreciate the role and the current situation of Spanish cultural associations, it is essential to reflect on the country’s recent social and political history. We have to bear in mind that the actual Spanish constitution dates from 1978 and that the first democratic elections took place in 1977. Prior to that, we should examine two phenomena. On the one hand, the political fight against Franco’s dictatorship gave a major value to culture. Cultural associations offered a framework so that resistance to the regime could start to grow. As a consequence, associations flourished.

On the other hand, while other countries created organisms dedicated to culture as a political branch (in France, for example, the writer André Malraux was designated Minister of Culture in 1959), the cultural political situation in Spain, especially as far as the state was concerned, was like a desert. It was not until 1964 that cultural associations were granted a legal framework in which to operate—despite the censorship and the government’s prohibitions—and carried out the tasks that under normal circumstances belonged to public authorities.

This applied to the whole country. However, the territories that did not receive any cultural support by the dictatorship, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country, where extraordinary conditions—including industrialisation, regional languages and a strong regional identity—led to the creation of a very powerful associative movement linked to traditional popular culture. This phenomenon was less vigorous in other areas, including Madrid (where the state played a stronger role, with all the conditions imposed by the political situation).

This background strongly influenced the historical evolution of the cultural sector as well as the present situation. To a certain extent, the obsession during the 1980s with building a state forced the public authorities to adopt a very active role in cultural policy and administration. The desire for “ a stronger state and more public services” led the various types of institutions to take over the space previously occupied by civil society: municipalities, because they had only recently started providing services to the citizen; and the new regional governments, because they were determined to legitimise their direct involvement in cultural management.

Public institutions on the whole filled the most important positions with all those active agents of the associative movement, leaving the independent institutions in crisis, in recession and without human resources.

The present and contradictory situation

Various parallel and sometimes contradictory phenomena have appeared and defined the present situation.

Some more advanced sectors of the political left encouraged civil society to participate more actively, both in the development and in the planning of cultural policies.

However, as far as the public authorities’ behaviour is concerned, it is noticeable that, with a few exceptions, the traditional left parties close to the government have always been sceptical of the fact that public institutions were not directly supervising the operation of public services. They have always regarded this as a form of privatisation.

What’s more, whenever right-wing parties were in charge, either in the central government, in the regional governments or in local administration, that often meant more freedom for the associative movement to act. This was either because they activated certain more liberal methods, or because there was a gap to fill once more, as the public cultural sector became weaker due to a lack of interest in cultural policies. (An example of that is the disappearance of the Ministry of Culture and its transformation to State Secretariat within the Ministry of Education during the government of the Partido Popular from 1996-2004).

The rise of the third sector’s importance in culture in other countries has not been totally realised in Spain. (Let’s think of the possibilities opened up to French associations, through the mechanism of French Law 1901, which regulates the role of associations), as administrators of projects with public funding, for example). A certain abuse of an old legal framework—the actual Law of Associations was approved in 2002 and the precedent was nearly 40 years old—created a negative opinion about the cultural sector’s non-profit status concerning problems of disloyal competence, because of tax matters (VAT exemptions etc.). Moreover, governmental organisations, particularly finance departments, showed little confidence in the third sector. Many of the ongoing associations that became too successful were obliged to become limited societies so that they could continue collaborating with the public administration.

Finally, different factors made an opposition movement more and more prevalent. First, a model of a more relational state developed. Second, a certain externalisation/distribution of services took place, either due to the need to reduce personnel expenses in the cultural centres, or due to the desire to increase participation and pluralism. Third, there was a change in the mentality within some governments—especially local ones—linked to a more modern left party. As a result, there was more motivation to share authority and decision-making with civil society (not only with associations, but also with foundations and others).

At this point, we shouldn’t overlook some important developments, such as the creation of Agenda 21 of Culture promoted in Barcelona and Porto Alegre. This was approved by 20 Spanish cities and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) in 2004. One of the key issues of Agenda 21 is the commitment to the participation of civil society in cultural policies.

In Catalonia there was also a movement that created the Arts Council of Catalonia ( Consell de las Arts), which as recently as 2006 provided the independent sector (and the private one as well) with more authority to plan and implement cultural policies within the Autonomous Community. Even though the council’s powers were eventually reduced, it still represents a first step in this direction within the Spanish state.

The expanding role of foundations

Although foundations represent quite a new trend in our country, there has been a rapid expansion in this field.

According to research funded by the Marcelino Botín Foundation, published in 2001, there were approximately 5,500 foundations of all types registered in Spain in 1997. Today, in the Ministry of Culture and of the Autonomous Communities’ database of the Cultural Foundations Register, there are about 1,400 foundations.

In an article published in 2004, Marta Rey reveals some tendencies she detected in the field of Spanish foundations.[1]The first trend is the noticeable concentration of almost half of the foundations in two specific regions: Catalonia (25%) and Madrid (19.5%). The second notable trend is the early stage of development of most foundations: one-fifth were created in the 1990s and it is estimated that every year approximately 250 new foundations are set up.[2] Third, foundations generally lack capital. Only 6% of the foundations receive initial donations greater than €0.60m. Finally, they are relatively small in size and the volume of their annual budget is also small: more than 40% of the recently created foundations have annual incomes of less than €60,000.

Marta Rey emphasises the paradigm shift in the sector. She calls this “the end of charity”. In fact, foundations traditionally financed their activities by means of their own resources from a legacy. However, recently they have followed another dominant model. Independent foundations constitute a mechanism to annex funds from private companies, public institutions or financial institutions taking profit from the new fiscal exemptions.

There are two different but prevalent models that do not clearly belong to the “independent” zone:

· Public Authorities, aiming to give more freedom to their structures, found that if they created foundations as an independent arm of their institutions, they could gain flexibility and autonomy for their cultural action, remaining distant from institutional bureaucracy. That is the case of Public Foundations, designed to manage special cultural centres or specific festivals, to give two common examples.

· Saving Banks (Cajas de Ahorros)

It is worth focusing our attention on the case of Cajas de Ahorros (Savings Banks), since it is a peculiar trend to Spain. Cajas de Ahorros play a significant cultural role in our country and they benefit from a particular legal status because they cannot officially have profits. As a consequence, the law obliges them to donate their profits to social purposes. Almost half of their profits are dedicated to cultural activities. Savings Banks provide culture with approximately €480m. This represents the equivalent of more than 50% of Ministry of Culture expenditure.[3] They do this either through their foundations, or directly through their organisms (social or cultural bodies).

In general terms, Cajas de Ahorros dedicate their cultural activities in quite a traditional way through their social and cultural departments. They focus on issues such as cultural heritage, cultural action for children, art exhibitions etc. Savings Banks are also extremely involved in financing cultural or artistic projects of the independent sector. However, although recent legislation offers two different frames for sponsoring or fundraising,[4] these institutions frequently present as fundraising what should actually be categorised as sponsoring.

Artistic organisations

In terms of specialised or professional NGOs devoted to performing arts, there is an important movement of independent and alternative theatre venues, known as Red de Teatros Alternativos. This movement represents an independent voice to a landscape that is monopolised by institutional theatres or old-fashioned commercial venues dedicated to vaudevilles or music comedies.

Thinking about the field of plastic or visual arts, there is a Visual Artists Association in each region, but the most important are those based in Catalonia or Madrid. (The latter has decreasing importance after its important role in the 1990s.) Most of the galleries in Spain are run commercially or privately. However, we are now seeing a promising development through the Instituto de las Artes (Institute of the Arts), which is bringing together galleries, artists, curators and critics on a national scale in an interdisciplinary way.

Conclusion

Some of the institutions contained in the supplementary list belong to the last two categories of foundations, or they are cultural centres directly run by them. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to include them in this list as independent sector because they are thought to have the benefits of a certain political and organisational autonomy and because geographically, they sometimes are the most interesting examples within their territory.

Taking into consideration all the above data, we can build a picture of a generally fragile independent sector that is facing many financial problems and includes institutions of limited size. In conclusion, the sector is very fragmented. Out of 65,000 cultural associations, only 5% of the population in Spain is involved in them. As a consequence, there are few cases where cultural organisations can take on a role of international cooperation with efficiency and permanence.

However, the perception is that a generational change is taking place. Young people joining the cultural field in the last few years do not expect too much from governmental administrations. It is almost impossible to become a civil servant in the cultural field, as most of these jobs are filled by people from older generations. Independence is one of the main wishes for young people in the cultural setor, perhaps because of their lack of fulfilment, or perhaps because one of the most direct ways to employment is do it yourself—through self-employment—rather than civil service .

Bibliography

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Baltà, J. Delgado, E. Pascual, J. Volunteering and Culture in Catalonia.Kαris Magazinen.11 Ed. Interarts Observatory. Barcelona 2001.

Cabra de Luna, M.A. La Ley de Fundaciones y Mecenazgo, ¿Qué efectos reales tiene para las empresas de gestión cultural? (I) Público y Privado en la Gestión Cultural. Ed. Xabide Gestión Cultural y Comunicación. (pp. 67-75). Vitoria-Gasteiz December 2000. ISBN 84-921274-2-2.

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[1]Rey Garcia, M. 2004. Rey García, M. El panorama real de las fundaciones en España: ¿El fin de la filantropía? Arte, Emprea y Sociedad: más allá del patrocinio de la cultura. Ed. Xabide Gestión Cultural y Comunicación, 2004.

[2]Cabra de Luna, M.A. La Ley de Fundaciones y Mecenazgo, ¿Qué efectos reales tiene para las empresas de gestión cultural? (I) Público y Privado en la Gestión Cultural, 2000.

[3]Álvarez, S. et al. La política Cultural en España. Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios Internacionales y Estratégicos. Madrid, April 2004

[4]General Publicity and Fundraising, Law 49/2002.