The scheme is part of Pedro Sanchez’s plan to ‘convert culture into a state policy’ and combat a rise in sedentary lifestyles, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
People over-65 in Spain could soon be able to enjoy going to cinema for just €2 on Tuesdays under new plans revealed by the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.
The idea comes a year after the socialist government introduced a youth culture voucher scheme giving 18-year-olds €400 to spend on books, records, festivals, plays, exhibitions and films.
The project potentially benefits 9.5 million people, encouraging the elderly to go to movie theatres to combat a “sedentary lifestyle, especially after the “very difficult” years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is also intended to support an important Spanish cultural industry.
On Twitter, Sanchez wrote: “I have just been with the Ortega family, who have been running the only multiplex in Puertollano since the 1980s. I have told them that we are going to approve that the elderly go to the cinema on Tuesdays for €2.”
“We will convert Culture into a State policy,” he added.
This new program will have an investment of €10 million and will be launched in collaboration with the main associations in the exhibition sector. It would also help “turn Spain into a great audiovisual hub,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez also pointed out that for the first time the film protection fund, which provides production aid, reached 107 million in 2023.
The scheme has the possibility of being run on another day, as some cinemas in different municipalities only open at weekends.
Unidas Podemos has also said they are going to propose to their coalition partners in government that the plan is expanded to reach more people, such as the unemployed and people on low income, people with disabilities and young people between 15 and 29 years old.
Source: Euro News
