In its second edition, the Young Cultural Voucher, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Sport, has been requested in Castilla-La Mancha by 14,284 young people who reach the age of 18 in 2023, distributed throughout the five provinces. This is 64.36% of the estimated population of this age in the Autonomous Community, a total of 22,193 people, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics.
The figure is 2,128 higher than the total number of Castile-Manchego beneficiaries of the previous edition, which amounted to 12,156, an increase of 17.51%. Between the first two editions, the 26,440 young beneficiaries of the program are already reached in Castilla-La Mancha, which allows them to enjoy an aid of 400 euros to invest in cultural products.
Throughout Spain, the Young Cultural Voucher 2023 has been requested by two out of three young people born in 2005, a total of 326,579, which represents 65.58% of the estimated population of that age, a total of 501,652 people. There are 48,985 beneficiaries more than in the previous edition, which amounted to 277,594. The sum of beneficiaries of the first two editions already exceeds 600,000 young people.
In this second edition, all registrations have been processed digitally, through the website www.bonoculturajoven.gob.es, between June 13 and October 31, including the extension of one month with the aim of promoting and facilitating the maximum participation of young people in the program.
After being registered and signed, each of these applications is reviewed and subjected to the process of individualized control of subsidies of the General Administration of the State, so that the final number of beneficiaries could suffer some variation.
The public company Correos, the entity in charge of the banking support of the Young Cultural Bonus, already began on September 14 the sending of virtual and physical cards to the young beneficiaries. From that moment, the cards are being issued progressively until they reach the total of bonuses granted.
Once the Young Cultural Bonus is activated, the beneficiaries have one year to make use of the card from the date of concession. The application and the website of the Young Cultural Voucher shows, in a personalized way, the remaining time that each young person has to enjoy the Voucher, as well as their remaining balance in each of the categories in which it is distributed:
Ø 100 euros for physical products, for example, books, press or discs.
Ø 100 euros for digital products: digital press, podcast or online video games.
Ø 200 euros for performing arts: theatre, opera, cinema, dance, museums...
For its part, more than 3,000 cultural companies - 134 in Castilla-La Mancha - already offer their services and products throughout Spain through the program that the Ministry of Culture and Sport launched in 2022. As of September 30, the Castile-Manchego beneficiaries of the first edition had carried out 78,163 operations worth 2.48 million euros. In total, the state sum already reaches 1,847,779 operations, which represents an investment of 59.4 million euros. The application period for companies and cultural entities remains open.
The objectives of this initiative that the Government of Spain has consolidated in its General State Budgets are, on the one hand, to promote the loyalty of young people as a public and cultural consumer; and, on the other, to offer additional support to the cultural sector in its recovery, which in this second edition would benefit with additional income of 130 million euros.