Culture with character

Councilors of the City Hall of Sitges, President and Councilor of the Catalan Broadcasting Corporation, Presidents of civil organizations, Artists, cultural managers, scholars, representatives of associations and groups, good night everyone.

First, let me congratulate the real stars of the evening: the winners in the different categories. The very much needed public recognition for your talent -whether by your vital trajectories or specific feats- is the main reason that justifies this evening. Today, we are gathered here to highlight: 

• The bright careers of photographer Tony Keeler and journalist Albert Sáez; 
• We want to stress that cultural gastronomy is associated with creativity and quality, as evidenced by "Club del Tast" and "Bar El Cable"-; 
• The evocative works of Gonzalo Romero and  Dogny Abreu,  winners of Sanvisens Award for painting  and Pere Jou Award for sculpture, which underline the condition of Sitges as home of the arts; 
• The fundamental role in our culture that represents Grup d'Estudis Sitgetans, or local group devoted to Historical Studies;
• And in the same vein, the interesting works made by three young women that were awarded with Carbonell i Gener Award, that highlight the work of study and exposure of our local reality.

To all of you, congratulations.

A year ago, when we held Sitges 2013 Night of Awards, I wanted to share with you three cultural projects that would become protagonists during the coming months. I mentioned in the first place the reopening of Cau Ferrat and Maricel museums after a thorough and careful reform, which allowed to maintain and preserve our legacy. Today, eleven months after its reopening, our museums have received more than 50,000 visits and now play an important role in the local fabric, not only cultural but social and even economic. The museums act as attraction poles for Sitges and contribute decisively to put us in the cultural hub of excellence.

The other project that I stressed last year during the Awards Night was also linked to our legacy: the reform of the Santiago Rusiñol Library. Last Saturday we organized the second open day to see the library, one of the buildings composing the Maricel ensemble- that was completely empty; without bookshelves and furniture that will be reinstalled in the coming months. The work of reform and restoration of the library allowed us to highlight the "noucentista" spirit and restore some of the original elements present one hundred years ago.

And the third point of the Awards Night a year ago was the announcement of the celebration of the Media and Advertising Festival of Catalonia, Sitges Next, for which we organized the first edition last April. We are already working on the second call, also next April. Sitges is a land of festivals, we want to stress and strengthen such a fact even more. In addition to film festival, the first in the world in its sector and that this year witnessed a significant growth- there are other festivals that coexist in Sitges that allow us to snap a cultural picture, which, viewed as a whole, has a quite extraordinary strenght: Jazz, Tango, Classical, Pop, Catalan-Irish Folklore, Ecology, Music at the Marina .. Now we want to complete this route of festivals with new additions and we are planning other initiatives. This is the case of the music festival next summer, which will form a plural and heterogeneous array of quality and ambitious challenge.

Wednesday, I had the pleasure of presenting to the media, accompanied by Deputy Mayor, Aurora Carbonell, and government spokesman, Pep Moliné- the Governance Plan 2015-2019. The Governance Plan is the tool that presents action lines and core strategies of the Municipal Government. The current Governance Plan includes six core strategies, and as it could not be otherwise, one is focused on cultural policy. We have called "Culture with Character."

The political culture that we are designing for this term has a very strong challenge: 

• Promoting cultural value as an expression of local diversity,
• Strengthen it as a tool for socio-economic development 
• And provide them with the necessary tools and instruments to act as the channel of creativity, talent and participation.

Note that we are stressing different concepts:

1. Heritage
2. Infrastructure
3. Creativity
4. Talent
5. Participation
6. Social cohesion

The sum of these elements are the ones that compose "Culture with Character" with which we want to identify our cultural schedule in coming years.

And what this means?

• During the coming months we will present the Forfet Cultural or Cultural Pass. It is a tool to promote cultural activities, to bring them closer to all citizens and contribute to what we want to achieve, which is promotion and dissemination through actions that encourage participation. The pass is intended as a tool at the service of culture that promotes spending both for residents and for people from the entire county, visitors and tourists.
• We will open Can Falç as a museum and heritage center. We are already working on the landmark building facing the sea, so the building can expose how was Sitges when agriculture, shoe industry and fishing were the bread baskets, and at the same time, to act as a space generator for tourist and cultural initiatives.
• We are negotiating with the Catalonian Autonomous Government to buy the Patronat. Abandoned for nearly 20 years, the Patronat is intended to be at the service of the culture of Sitges and civil organizations.
• We prepared the  project of the Center for Interpretation of Festivals, a space geared as headquarters and broadcasting center for the most important festivals in the calendar: the Festa Major or annual festival, Carnival and Corpus Christi.
• We will implement a regular art market, offering the possibility to disseminate and project the work of our artists and at the same time, to act as a magnet for talent. In parallel, we are working on the creation of the Biennial of Artists from Sitges, a platform capable of providing visibility and presence to our artists through exhibitions, meetings and competitions. 
• And, as I indicated earlier, we are in the late stages of the project to create the International Music Festival of Sitges. It is intended to be a meeting point to present a quality program to attract to Sitges stars from various genres and capable of strengthening the cultural offer during summer, as present in several coastal towns. 
• With this new Festival -and other proposals that we have received- we will create an stable map of Festivals, capable of allowing the promotion of the town as a land that generates and receives cultural initiatives with a national vision and, in some cases, international exposure.

These are some -not all- important initiatives and projects that we have designed for our cultural policy in the coming years. These are the different legs of a major project: Sitges exercising its status as a cultural capital through:

• Specific events;
• Promoting creativity and talent, 
• The provision of necessary equipment, 
• Creating tools that facilitate access to culture; 
• And reform, restoration and recovery of our heritage in terms of adapting to new needs, but above all, preservation and protection of our history and legacy.

And in this task to reinforce the cultural character of Sitges and its condition as capital, there is a key element. Crucial. In Sitges, probably more than anywhere else: THE CIVIL SOCIETY. That is, organizations, associations and cultural groups, either civilian or based in festivals, which are a driving force of cultural actions, social cohesion and channeling of participation.

During the past years, the organizations and associations had to suffer the bitterest face of the crisis: the reduction of subsidies and resources. The financial collapse in which some institutions entered directly affected the economic capacity of the associations. Currently, the conditions and the economic environment have improved. And in the case of the City Hall of Sitges, the economic recovery has allowed to gain back lost ground and improve performance and economic support.

But as you know, the improvement of resources has been accompanied by other obstacles, such as those imposed by the General Comptroller.  The new control environment in public spending have resulted in the application of national laws which exert a pronounced control over public resources. 

Firstly, I have to say that some of these measures are necessary to ensure the proper use of public money, so I share them. But it is also true that the interpretation of certain processes allows different views. In Sitges we are suffereing those measures that are being exerted by civil servants designated by central government and occupying strategic positions in our City Council. 

The organizations that receive public funding must be subject -and it can not be otherwise- to the verification that the funds are used correctly. But this process can not be carried out disregarding the reality of associations, and ignoring the civic and cultural fabric of our town. 

For this reason, I have to inform you that we are seeking and finding the necessary ways to solve the limitations of municipal subventions that you have suffered during 2015 and previous years. In the coming weeks, we will send you the criteria and measures adopted. Always complying with the law, our desire is that no organization in Sitges stops receiving a single euro of their agreed subsidies. 

I also have to announce that it will be essential to follow the rigorous criteria established for receiving all the agreed subsidies. We are preparing a training session with you to make the path smoother. So bureaucratic red tape will not be an impediment to continue strengtening and developing a solid and stable cultural system in which organizations and associations play a crucial role. The role of the City Hall in our cultural system must involve the promotion of the creation of events that fit our needs, respect the character of our City and deliver public value, whatever the size. Because culture must be measured using a quantitative criteria (if any), but mainly qualitative. 

Associations, creativity, talent, promotion, facilities, protection of heritage, popular culture, festivals... Notice the words that I wrote down. Those are the words that set apart a culture with character. The need to reinforce our status as a cultural capital.

Many thanks to all.

Sitges 2015 Awards Night (27^th November 2015)