Ernest Urtasun has presented his program for the coming years in the Ministry to the Congress Culture Commission. A program that he described as “ambitious” and that has had notable clashes in its proposal to decolonize the museums, to “overcome the colonial framework” and “make visible the perspective of the communities and towns from which the goods on display come”: both the Representatives of the PP and Vox have pointed out that Spain did not have colonies.
There have also been clashes when the minister has wanted to position himself as the guarantor of freedom of expression and has attributed the current cases of censorship to the PP having opened the door to pacts with Vox, which has led, I have exemplified, to the suppression of the Periferias de Huesca festival, about which Urtasun has announced that they are in talks with some administrations “that want to keep the festival alive.” On the other hand, the PP has pointed out the removal of Ada Colau from the traditional nativity scene in Plaza Sant Jaume as censorship and Vox has accused Urtasun that “you are the champions of censorship, the woke left.”
Among a string of measures, the minister has demanded in the commission that all Spanish public administrations increase investment in culture to 1% of GDP – currently it is 0.7%, despite the fact that culture contributes 2.2%. of GDP–, “a collective obligation, which also involves local and regional administrations, but especially the central administration.”
Urtasun, in a speech in Spanish and Catalan – he has placed a lot of emphasis on “linguistic biodiversity” and has indicated that he will protect Aragonese and Asturian – has proposed a National Plan for Cultural Rights that will be in charge of a General Directorate of Rights. Newly created cultural organizations, which will be responsible for ensuring that culture reaches all citizens and that everyone can express themselves culturally.
An idea that will even involve, as announced, a “cultural action program in disadvantaged neighborhoods and areas of the country so that there is equitable distribution of resources. Where there are social and economic gaps, culture must be at the service of structuring and coexistence.” This Directorate of Cultural Rights will also deal with the fight against censorship and the interconnection between education and culture.
The achievement of the Artist Statute, the new Cinema Law and the protection of the Spanish cultural industry in a globalized world that tends towards concentration, updating the Heritage Law, two million euros in this year’s budgets for the National Plan of Flamenco, the transformation of the ossified National Institute of Arts and Music, the creation of the Intellectual Property Office and the supervision of artificial intelligence – that its training processes protect intellectual property, he said, and that the algorithms that feed artificial intelligence tools are transparent and auditable – have been some of the minister’s proposals, which have also included the announcement of the creation of a Biennial of Thought on Culture and Climate Change because, he noted, culture must play a central role in the model change.
An idea against which the Vox spokesperson has questioned whether we know what is causing climate change and has suggested that there are reports that point to the sun. A party with which Urtasun has had the main confrontations in the commission: they have asked him to change the name of the Ministry “to that of Agitation and Propaganda” and they have accused him of being “Hispanophobic”, to which he has replied that “today I have to defend your Spanish culture,” referring to cases of censorship. After which the minister announced that he and the Culture Ministers of Germany and France have agreed to work together to “rearm culture in Europe in the face of the rise of the extreme right.” He also announced that he will baptize the Ministry’s auditorium with the name of a predecessor: Jorge Semprún.
