The majority of public cultural expenditure in Spain is carried out by regional and local authorities, which together account for approximately 83% of total public cultural spending (see Table 6). This distribution reflects the highly decentralised nature of the Spanish cultural policy system, in which Autonomous Communities and municipalities are primarily responsible for financing and implementing cultural policies, while the central government plays a more limited and coordinating role.
Between 2018 and 2023, public expenditure on culture—both in total terms and per capita—has increased across all levels of government, indicating a positive recovery trend following the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. This growth has been supported not only by domestic public budgets but also by European funding instruments, particularly the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The RRF has contributed significantly to cultural investment within the framework of Spain’s Recovery Plan, supporting projects aligned with four strategic priorities: ecological transition, digital transformation, social and territorial cohesion, and gender equality. Between 2021 and 2026, Spain has been allocated substantial EU funding—amounting to approximately 163 billion euro, including loans—which has reinforced public investment capacity across sectors, including culture.
In 2023, cultural expenditure by the General State Administration amounted to 1 285.9 million euro, compared to 1 750.9 million euro by the Autonomous Communities and 4 779.1 million euro by local governments. As a share of GDP, these figures represented 0.09%, 0.12%, and 0.32%, respectively.
Total public cultural expenditure per capita reached 162.5 euro in 2023. By level of government, per capita expenditure amounted to 26.7 euro for the central government, 36.4 euro for the Autonomous Communities, and 99.4 euro for local governments.
Per capita expenditure varied considerably across regions. Based on liquidated regional cultural expenditure for 2023, the highest levels were recorded in Navarre (89.6 euro), the Basque Country (80.9 euro), La Rioja (60.1 euro) and Catalonia (57.0 euro). At the lower end were Castilla-La Mancha (18.8 euro), Madrid (20.1 euro), Murcia (20.5 euro), Aragon (21.3 euro) and the Canary Islands (22.7 euro).
Overall, public cultural expenditure increased by 46.1% in nominal terms between 2018 and 2023. Growth was strongest at the central government level (+84.7%), followed by the Autonomous Communities (+48.6%) and local governments (+37.5%).
Public expenditure on culture accounted for approximately 0.53% of Spain’s GDP in 2023, up from 0.46% in 2018. Data on cultural expenditure as a share of total public expenditure—available only by level of government—show that culture represented 0.35% of total expenditure by the General State Administration, 0.65% by the Autonomous Communities, and 5.16% by local governments in 2023. All levels of government recorded increases over the period 2018–2023. The largest increase was observed at the local level (+0.31 percentage points), followed by the Autonomous Communities and the central government (both +0.08 percentage points).
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