The Community of Madrid has once again suspended its commitment to allocate “at least” 1% of the cost of each public work to investment in Cultural Heritage. With this decision, the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has once again frozen this item in the 2025 budgets, despite the fact that the regional law requires it to make this budget reserve.
The autonomous Executive approved this rule in 2023. In it they agreed that the Community must reserve “at least one percent of its contribution to the budgets of public works that it finances in whole or in part in order to invest it in research, documentation, conservation , restoration, heritage education and enrichment of cultural heritage.” This obligation affects all public organizations dependent on the regional government.
Although its own regulations require it to do so, the Community of Madrid has annulled this commitment in the 2025 budget law. It has done so by including a provision that modifies the heritage law in which the “suspension” of the validity of that commitment in next year’s accounts. This is not the first time that the regional government has made this decision; it has been repeated in recent years. In the Ministry of Culture they justify this position by ensuring that the application of 1% “is not contemplated by the autonomous budgetary policy.”
A “stable” source of financing
The Community of Madrid defended at the time, as it appears in the regional government websitethat with this contribution the aim was to guarantee “a stable source of financing with which it is possible to carry out the plans and programs that the Historical Heritage Law of the Community of Madrid foresees.” “In addition to ensuring that both public organizations and holders of public works concessions become aware that, along with investments in works, investments must also be made to increase and conserve the existing Historical Heritage,” he added.
“In the 2013 budgets it was canceled with the justification of the crisis, with the promise that it would be resumed,” explains Más Madrid deputy Alicia Torija, who assures that since then this item has not been recovered. Even so, and despite the decision taken by the Ayuso Government, Torija confirms that the Community of Madrid does benefit from the 2% Cultural that the State invests in the autonomous Heritage.
Likewise, the Más Madrid representative criticizes that the Ayuso Government included in the law the commitment of the 1% Cultural without the intention of fulfilling it. “If they weren’t going to apply it, why didn’t they remove it from the law? They didn’t do it because it would be unconstitutional,” he adds. For her part, socialist deputy Mar Espinar defends that “a government that does not invest in culture is a government that defrauds people because it makes them think they are free when in reality it condemns society to conformism.”
This investment line is an obligation for both state and regional accounts. The Law 16/1985 of Spanish Historical Heritage establishes that at least 1% of public works contracts must be allocated to the conservation or enrichment of Cultural Heritage.
A “passive” cultural policy
For the Madrid, Citizenship and Heritage association, the decision of the Ayuso Government is “regrettable”, according to its vice president Álvaro Bonet, who regrets that the regional administration “does not understand that the restoration of heritage is beneficial for everyone.” The investments made under this item could be allocated to natural, architectural or religious heritage. Bonet maintains that in the region there are goods of this type “in need” of an economic injection.
Furthermore, he argues that regional cultural policy is not proactive. “We feel a bit of abandonment on the part of the Community administration,” says Bonet, while defending that the autonomous government “lives off of income” and maintains “a passive position.” “There are buildings that should have a direct plan of action, until a cornice falls off the buildings it seems that no action is taken. We must avoid reaching the limit,” he adds. To avoid these cases, the interviewee considers that the Ministry of Culture should deploy “prevention plans.”
At the end of 2022, the central government agreed that the General State Administration would increase the amount and allocate 2% of the budget of each public works to the rehabilitation of the Heritage. Following this policy, Pedro Sánchez’s Executive announced its plans to invest up to 80 million euros in 2024 and 2025 in charge of this cultural item. 218,160 euros will go to to the Community of Madrid to restore the façade of the ‘La Bodega en la Cartuja’ building located in the town of Talamanca de Jarama.
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