Urtasun defends video games as a “very large, thriving industry” in Spain and promises support with its own funds

The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, defended this Saturday the importance of video games as “one of the great thriving industries” and a “key” sector in Spain and has promised to continue supporting it with his own funds, once the aid from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) has been exhausted.

“Video games are one of the great thriving industries that we have in our country”, to the point that Spain is the third European power in the field, stated Urtasun, who highlighted that the sector has multiplied its turnover by nine in the last decade – from 300 million euros just over 10 years ago to exceeding 2.7 billion today – and has 22 million users and 800 video game development companies in Spain.

The minister made these statements during his visit to the Spanish video game fair ‘Mad Games Show’, which he described as a “fundamental meeting for the promotion of a sector that is key” in the Spanish economy.

Furthermore, he has assured that, once the PRTR aid has been exhausted, for which the sector has received 22 million euros, the Ministry will continue to “institutionally support” with its own funds.

It is an industry that “is technology, which is culture – I want to say this with all my might – and which provides great added value to our cultural industries,” said Urtasun, who recalled the signed protocol that includes initiatives such as ‘Equal Play’ (for gender equality) and others aimed at sustainable consumption by young people.

“We are going to continue betting” in a “decided” way on the video game industry, he concluded.

EXTENSION OF RENTS

On the other hand, Urtasun has referred to the negotiation of the royal decree law that contains the extraordinary extension of rents, up to a maximum of two years of those that expire in 2026 and 2027, and has indicated that Sumar and the Government continue in “very intense conversations” with the rest of the political parties to achieve its validation.

Thus, he shared that the announced round of negotiations will take place over the next week and has expressed confidence in having “days” ahead, as he expects the vote in Congress to take place “practically at the end of this month.”

“We are going to work very intensely so that no tenant can be left without a rental contract because it is not renewed or has to face an increase of 300 or 400 euros” in the contract, as well as so that when updating this the impact of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) cannot be more than 2%, he emphasized.