The socialist regional politician Carlos Martínez has sharply criticised the controversial conditions for cultural grants in Castile and León The Spanish region would make itself a “national disgrace” if it made national headlines because of such requirements, the regional socialist leader said on 13 November during a visit to La Granja in the province of Segovia. He spoke of censorship in film and objected to political obligations attached to cultural grants.
The background is a declaration that applicants for short film funding are expected to sign. In it, they undertake, if their application is approved, to refrain from ideological indoctrination, party-political propaganda and the explicit support of particular political positions in the funded activities. elDiario.es first reported on the document on 12 November; El País confirmed the requirement. Applicants reportedly have five working days from the day after receiving the request to sign.
A corresponding clause was already included in the grant order of 7 October. Among other things, it requires recipients to uphold objectivity, institutional neutrality and pluralism. According to both media outlets, the additional requirement to sign a declaration was not included in the order. El País reports that the regional government has not explained what criteria it will use to identify the content in question.
The regional government is made up of the conservative People’s Party and the far-right party Vox The culture department is headed by Vox’s José Alberto Díaz Pico. According to El País, the People’s Party backed the department head, citing the quality of the funded projects.
On 23 October, Spain’s Ministry of Culture had already formally called on the regional government to act over the funding conditions for short and feature films. The ministry sees grounds to suspect interference with freedom of expression and artistic freedom as well as a risk of censorship and arbitrariness. According to the ministry, the request opens the way to a legal challenge; this does not establish that a court has made a decision.
Representatives of the film industry also voiced concerns. In October, the regional platform for audiovisual media and the organisation representing women in the audiovisual sector called for project assessments not to depend on the political orientation of their creators or the views expressed in their works. At the same time, they warned against cancelling the call for applications altogether: in their view, interrupting funding would harm the regional film industry.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).