Culture expects its Cultural Rights Plan to be ready in May 2025, against censorship and inequality in the sector

The Ministry of Culture has announced the opening of a participatory process for the Preparation of the Cultural Rights Plan,which includes among its axes the fight against censorship and inequality in the sector,and is expected to be ready by May 2025.

This was announced by the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun,together with the Director General of Cultural Rights, Jazmín Beirak, at the presentation of the roadmap of the plan held in the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum,which is currently in a “situation diagnosis” phase.

Although this plan was announced as a law at the beginning of the legislative period, Beirak has finally explained that it will not have a “normative dimension.” “It is an executive policy of the Government, we prefer to take this step as a prior action plan, because the law is a concrete manifestation of that plan”he stressed.

Urtasun said that this is a process to “open a great window of dialogue” with Spanish society, and to make it feel “involved” in cultural policies. “We did not want to be in an ivory tower, nor can this be a closed menu for the administrations,” he argued.

For the time being, to implement the Plan – which will have 13 axes – there is a working group of 15 people each – making a total of 200 with diverse profiles – and then another 300 collaborators for the questionnaires part and with support from autonomous communities. The total budget that will be available has not been detailed, although it has been confirmed that there will be a specific item within Culture.

“It’s time to prioritize and schedule“, added Beirak, who confirmed that this first part will end at the end of 2024 and then the presentation of the plan will go on until May 2025. The different aspects that the plan will cover will be organized into thirteen thematic axes, which will guide the formation of the working groups.

These include ‘Local and community development’, ‘Education and culture’, ‘Cultural mediation’, ‘Gender equality’, ‘Ethno-racial diversity’, ‘Linguistic diversity’, ‘Disability’, ‘Inequality’, ‘Intergenerational culture’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Digital rights’, ‘Evaluation of cultural policies’ and ‘Regulatory adaptation, good practices and governance’.

Beirak has referred to this section of the fight against censorship, assuring that within the plan the “material conditions that make the exercise of control prone” will be studied. Thus, he has insisted on addressing ““Beyond the ideological dimension,” there are situations that may favor these acts of censorship, such as the fact that artists do not have any signed contract.

From now on, the roadmap establishes a calendar that will be developed over the course of a year. Once the methodological framework has been designed, the phases of diagnosis, formulation of proposals, drafting and review will continue, with the final text expected to be presented in May of next year.

The Cultural Rights Plan will also be presented, within the framework of the international cultural forum Mondiacult 2025, promoted by UNESCO,which will be hosted by Barcelona at the end of next year.

“In essence, this plan aims to ensure that all citizens can access and enjoy culture on equal terms,promoting cultural diversity and protecting the rights of creators and workers in the sector,” the Ministry of Culture stressed.