The Culture budget for 2026 increases, but remains at 1.7% of the total

Barcelona524 million euros: this is the Culture budget for 2026, detailed this Wednesday by the Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar. It forms part of the Generalitat budgets agreed by the PSC and the Comunsbut to be approved in Parliament they need the support ofERC, which for the moment has presented a comprehensive amendmentIf approved, these would be the highest budgets in history, including in the cultural sphere. This 524 million euro figure is 118 million more than the 405 million euro budget for 2023; at that time, the total for Culture was 477 million euro because it also included Language, which in 2026 will have its own budget within the Department of Language Policy. In 2026, the combined budget for Culture and Language will be 609 million euro. Compared to the budgets presented by Pere Aragonès's government in 2024, which were rejected by the Comuns party, the increase for Culture and Language is 43 million euros. Despite this considerable increase within a total budget of 49.162 billion euros, Culture (and Language) is still far from the coveted 2% to which both the Aragonès and Salvador Illa governments had committed. The 609 million represents 1.7%, two tenths more than in 2023. This 1.7% is not in relation to the total 49,162 million, but rather to 36,070 million, which, according to the Department of Culture, is the figure remaining after excluding "final and financial funds" (79 million). The budgets defended by Councilor Hernández Almodóvar include actions already announced such as the MNAC expansion project (60 million), the reconversion of the Old Canons' Phonetic Workshop of Barcelona's Rambla in a digital culture center (10.4 million), the new House of Letters in the Palau Requesens in Barcelona (7 million), the expansion of the Macba (5 million), the renovation of the Library of Catalonia (5 million), the expansion of the Filmoteca's conservation space in Terrassa (3.4 million), and the renovation of the Mercat de les Flors (1.7 million), among others. One of the major new developments is a 75 million euro investment to protect museum collections: a 35,000 m² space.² in a location yet to be determined "in the center of the country." It will house the "joint national reserves" of museums, including the Museum of Natural Sciences, the MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia), and the MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona). It's worth noting that the expansion of the MNAC and the MACBA is not to create more storage space, but rather to provide more exhibition space.

There will also be 20 million euros to promote artistic creation, 18.5 million euros to support touring performances, 16.6 million euros for the National Archives, and one million euros for the purchase of contemporary art.

Culture Budget for 2026

524 million euros

By budget chapters

• Staff remuneration: 38.5 million (+14 compared to 2023)
• Current expenditure on goods and services: 29.3 million (+18)
• Financial expenses: 6,000 (=)
• Current transfers: 334.6 million (+29%)
• Real investments: 21.9 million (+56.5%)
• Capital transfers: 56.5 million (+28%)
• Valuation of financial assets: 41 million (+47%)

By units and bodies of the Department of Culture

• General Directorate of Cultural Heritage: 146.7 million (+44.1%)
• General Directorate of Cultural Rights, Creation and Libraries: 117 million (+25%)
• General Directorate of Popular Culture and Cultural Associations: 16.2 million (+26.6%)
• General Directorate of Innovation and Digital Culture: 7.5 million (+15.4%)
• Institution of Catalan Letters: 5.6 million (+30%)
• Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (ICEC): 123 million (+29%)
• Institut Ramon Llull: 15.5 million (25%)
• National Council for Culture and the Arts (CoNCA): 1.7 million (+6%)

Plan for artistic creation (€28.1 million)

• Grants and lines of support for creation: 14.5 million (+5 million)
• Grants and subsidies to promote creativity internationally: 6.2 million (+3 million)
• Lines of support for immersive creation and the incubation of digital projects: 2.5 million (+740,000)
• Support for the creation and development of audiovisual projects, laboratories and artistic residencies: 3.4 million (+1.7%)
• Grants for authors in creative writing, programs for new voices and shows about Catalan literature: 850,000 (+450,000)
• Promoting the creation of traditional arts through the Manresa Mediterranean Fair and the line for the creation of shows: 660,000 (+190,000)

Impact on the public sector and subsidies

• Contributions to cultural facilities: 91 million (+32%)
• Subsidies for cultural activity: 226.3 million (+37%)