First, it was the gastronomic bonus to promote economic reactivation in the hospitality sector, and then the trade bonus with the aim of encouraging consumption among the commercial fabric of the city. And now comes the cultural bonus. The government team of the Alicante City Council, the bipartite made up of the Popular Party (PP) and Ciudadanos (Cs), has included an allocation of €60,000 in the second modification of the municipal budget this year in order to launch a first experience similar to the one launched by the Ministry of Culture to promote the consumption of cultural products among 18-year-olds.

As explained to us by the mayor of Culture, Antonio Manresa, the possibility of opting for discounts extends to all citizens, without being linked to age requirements. A priori, it is intended that each beneficiary can have a voucher for an amount of €40 (which means the distribution of a total of 1,500 vouchers) with the aim of allocating them to the purchase of books, magazines, records, theater tickets or concert tickets. Of course, provided that the establishments and the organizers of these events are registered in the program, through the municipal website, as was already done with the distribution of gastronomic vouchers and trade vouchers.

Therefore, what the Department of Culture intends is to include the possibility of using the voucher to purchase tickets for any of the shows scheduled at the Teatro Principal (co-owned by the municipality) and an attempt will be made to arrange for the Teatro Arniches, managed by the Ministry of Culture through the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC).

The program will be enabled between the months of September and October, as soon as the bases for its distribution are completed and the computerized registration system is enabled so that interested businesses can join and so that users can request the allocation of bonuses. The purpose of the Department of Culture is to evaluate the results of that first experience to reproduce it in successive years with a larger budget item that would be introduced in the 2023 accounts from its initial approval, or would be enabled through a credit modification, as has happened now.

In addition, Manresa explained that what they want is to stimulate consumption to help the city’s cultural industry. “We start with a modest budget, but the idea is to expand it as far as we can, if it offers good results.”

It is indisputable that, until now, the two previous experiences developed in the field of hospitality and commerce had higher items, of 350,000 and 100,000 euros, respectively. and also had a different result. The so-called gastronomic bonds were exhausted in a few days, while the consumer bonds in commerce remained at 81%.

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