In recent years, the outsourcing of public services has extended to the governance and management of cultural organisations. The management of both new and existing cultural services, previously under direct governmental control, has progressively been delegated to external companies and organisations. This trend forms part of a broader shift towards the externalisation of public services.
In the cultural sector, this process initially involved the creation of public contractors—such as public cultural foundations, committees and specialised public companies—to streamline administrative procedures and increase flexibility in subcontracting and income management. At the same time, secondary services with limited cultural impact—including catering, security, cleaning and commercial activities—were widely outsourced. Over time, factors such as constraints on public staffing, the demand for specialised services at competitive costs, and the weakening of traditional links between public ownership and public management have encouraged the outsourcing of an increasing number of functions within cultural administration.
In a first phase, publicly owned cultural institutions outsourced support services with significant cultural content, such as educational and mediation activities, which are now commonly provided by external operators in museums and exhibition centres. Subsequently, the process has expanded to include the full transfer of management responsibilities. Today, outsourcing extends to a wide range of facilities, including community centres, municipal arts centres, galleries, exhibition halls, archaeological sites, concert halls, theatres and, in some cases, museums.
At the same time, various national and regional institutions have reformed the procedures for appointing directors, with the aim of improving transparency, professionalism and objectivity. At the central level, initiatives first implemented at the Prado Museum were later extended to other leading institutions, such as the Reina Sofía National Museum and Art Centre and the National Library of Spain.
These reforms were initially promoted within the framework of the Cultural Institutions Modernisation Plan (approved in September 2007) and were subsequently reinforced through the General Strategic Plan 2012–2015 of the State Secretariat for Culture. Together, these initiatives sought to increase the managerial autonomy of major cultural institutions while enhancing their financial sustainability through expanded public–private collaboration. Notably, institutions such as the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía National Museum and Art Centre have been granted a special status that allows them, within Spain’s legal framework, to operate under certain private-law arrangements.
In this context, sponsorship and fundraising—closely linked to greater institutional autonomy—have encouraged stronger collaboration with the private sector and enabled cultural institutions to adopt more innovative management practices[1]. A representative example is the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA).
More recently, forms of civic engagement such as volunteerism have become increasingly prominent across cultural institutions. Initiatives such as Friends of Museums associations, grouped within the Spanish Federation of Friends of Museums (established in 1983), have contributed to strengthening connections between institutions and society. Similar initiatives include the Foundation of Friends of the National Library (established in 2009) and the Foundation of Friends of the Prado Museum, which has more than 21,000 members. In addition, the Prado Museum’s patron programme currently accounts for approximately 30% of its internal funding.
[1] For more details, see: Rubio-Arostegui, J. A., & Villarroya, A. (2022). Patronage as a way out of crisis? the case of major cultural institutions in Spain. Cultural Trends, 31(4), 372–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2021.1986670
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