The Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICUB) is set to award 14,835,635 euros in 2025 in the form of grants, subsidies and investments to strengthen culture in the city. The figure builds on the increase of half a million euros already applied for subsidies in 2024 and strengthens the municipal government’s ongoing backing for the city’s cultural sector, with support for established projects and new initiatives alike.

In all, nearly 5.8 million euros will be allocated for subsidies for cultural activities, plus a million euros to incentivise artistic creation through support programmes and grants and, finally, 8 million euros to boost other strategic lines of support.

The ordinary call for 2025, which closed on 29 January, attracted 948 applications for subsidies for projects, activities and services at either a city or district level, some 17% more than the previous year. The disciplines that attracted the most projects were music, visual arts, performing arts and multi-disciplinary projects for cultural debate and thought, followed by arts, bookshops and the promotion of reading and traditional culture.

This year, the subsidy programme for regular performing arts events at theatres in Barcelona will have its own calendar instead linked to the general call, making the process more agile and better suited to the needs of the sector. This change will make for a more efficient administration and better control of time frames for the resolution and publication of subsidies. The call opened on 31 January and the submission period for applications runs from 3 to 21 February.

As for one-off subsidies designed to support extraordinary cultural projects that bring unique value to Barcelona, these are aimed at special periodical initiatives with a high impact, or projects being organised for the first time. The Barcelona 10×10 call, linked to districts, promotes initiatives rooted in the local area that transcend the local realm.

Grants, support for creation, investment and agreements

The Barcelona Institute of Culture also manages the Barcelona Crea grant programme, with nearly a million euros in funding (grants of 6,000 euros each), with a public competition and a process managed by art factories and other cultural facilities. This year’s call should open at the end of February and fund over a hundred projects in different disciplines.

Besides subsidies and grants, the ICUB offers various investment programmes and agreements to strengthen the city’s cultural infrastructure, support innovation projects and foster initiatives linked to the local areas. These lines of investment will be opened over the course of the year, in the same way as the specific agreements with other organisations. This funding helps drive projects with a special importance for the city, modernise cultural infrastructures and strengthen the bond between culture and the local area, with an overall investment of more than 8 million euros.

There are more calls that focus on investment, such as the one aimed at improving private spaces for creation, bookshops, cinemas, for the renovation and modernisation of these facilities. The subsidies for establishments offering live music also continues, as do those centring on aspects such as noise-impact studies, the installation of sound limiters and projects for experimentation and digital innovation, in areas such as virtual reality and learning technologies.

Other agreements in this sphere are aimed at specific projects that because of their area or trajectory fall outside the competitive call system. These are valued at nearly 7.5 million euros.