Madrid,
The Contemporary Foundation, launched in 2008 by La Fábrica in order to promote meetings, training and collaborations between cultural professionals, began to develop the following year, together with the firm CREA SGR, its Cultural Observatory, intended to recognize the most outstanding activities and institutions of this sector in Spain. Their data is based on surveys of between four hundred and five hundred panelists who evaluate several hundred of these initiatives, including museums and art centers, theaters and auditoriums, libraries and film libraries, residences, festivals and fairs of film, music, theater, dance, literature, thought, architecture, awards or commemorations.
On this occasion, 443 professionals were interviewed, the majority of them (46%) employed in public cultural organizations. Based on their contributions, Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country continue to be the autonomous communities whose offer is seen as most extensive – in this area, surprises would be rare; and Galicia, Cantabria and Castilla y León register notable increases. Castilla-La Mancha and the Region of Murcia are trailing behind.
As for the most praised institutions or cultural events this year, the ranking is led by the Reina Sofía Museum, the Prado and the San Sebastián Festival, followed by the Thyssen – Bornemisza National Museum, the Guggenheim, the Teatro Real, CaixaForum, CCCB and the Juan March Foundation, which is tied with the Málaga Festival and Matadero Madrid. The Teatros del Canal, the Cerezales Foundation, The MOP Foundation, the Marta Ortega foundation, Tabakalera and the Helga de Alvear Museum in Cáceres win many positions. And there are additions: Mondiacult 2025, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró in Mallorca, the MACA in Alicante, the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona and the CGAC in Santiago de Compostela. 2.5% of the panelists remembered the album LUXby Rosalía.
Entering into regional activity, the most esteemed proposals and institutions in their respective autonomous communities have this time been the Malaga Festival (Andalusia), the Southern Pyrenees (Aragon), the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias (Asturias), the already mentioned Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró (Balearic Islands), TEA. Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (Canary Islands), the Centro Botín (Cantabria), the International Classical Theater Festival of Almagro (Castilla-La Mancha), the MUSAC of León (Castilla y León), Montaña Alta (Catalonia), the Reina Sofía Museum (Community of Madrid), the IVAM (Community of Valencia), the Helga de Alvear Museum (Extremadura), the CGAC of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia), Sierra Sonora (La Rioja), the Jorge Oteiza Museum Foundation (Navarra), the San Sebastián Festival (Basque Country) and La Mar de Músicas (Murcia).
Regarding the new cultural centers or projects, the most cited are the Pontevedra Biennial, the Miguel Delibes House Museum in Valladolid, the Matadero Dance Center in Madrid, Infinito Delicias, the Murmullo de Valle de Ricote festival and SOLO CSV, again in Madrid.
We thank the panelists for including, once again, masdearte in the section of the best of digital culture, led by Filmin, CaixaForum+, the Prado Museum, RTVE Play, Biblioteca Nacional, Matadero Madrid, Fundación Telefónica, MIRA, Sónar and Radio Nacional de España. Other media outlets in this section are Arteinformado, Cultura Inquieta, Movistar Plus+, SER Podcast, Jotdown, EXIT Media, El Cultural and Zenda.
We will conclude by talking about the rural environment and social commitment. Outside the cities, the most valued projects have been Azala in Lasierra (Álava), Badarán que Hablar in Badarán (La Rioja), Camprovinarte in Camprovín (La Rioja), Espacio Arte VACA in Viniegra de Abajo (La Rioja), Festival Agrocuir da Ulloa in Monterroso (Lugo), the Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia in Cerezales del Condado (León) and the Fiesta de las Cuadrillas in Barranda (Murcia).
The “la Caixa” Foundation, the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, the Cerezales Antonino y Cinia Foundation, La Casa Encendida and the ONCE Foundation have been singled out for their dedication to charitable purposes.
And looking to the future… half of the panelists assure that their organizations’ budgets will be very similar to those of last year and for a percentage close to 35% they will be somewhat higher.
