The Colombian singer Carlos Vives received 847,000 euros from the Community of Madrid for the concert he gave in the capital on Hispanic Heritage Day. Alarms went off on the Madrid left when considering the disproportionate figure, compared to the defense of the capital's PP.
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García, justified this week the money invested by the 100,000 attendees who attended and the economic return that the event has left in the region.
García Martín defended that the Community of Madrid "year after year" is increasing "the number of events and the number of acts" that are held to celebrate Hispanicity. He explained that this year 165 activities have been held in more than 50 venues spread across the different neighborhoods of the capital and the municipalities of the region.
To defend the PP's position, the head of the Presidency emphasized that it brought together more than 100,000 people and maintained that other artists such as Ana Mena, Niña Pastori, Rozalén, Diego Torres and Juanes also performed.
The Ministry of Culture estimates that this type of event has a return that can reach 300 million euros, but does not specify the breakdown.
For its part, the socialist parliamentary group of the Madrid Assembly believes that the Community of Madrid has been "tricked" with the price of the Carlos Vives concert as the highlight of Hispanidad.
During the Culture Commission of the Madrid Assembly, the socialist deputy Manuela Villa Acosta argued that "there is no way to get the amount it has cost", a figure, she warned, similar to that allocated at the time by the capital's City Council. to finance "the entire programming of La Noche en Blanco." She considers that Carlos Vives's performance "should not have exceeded 400,000." "And you have paid double," said the socialist parliamentarian to the Madrid PP. In the breakdown of the budget, there were 300,000 euros for setting up the stage, but the pure and simple figure that the singer received was not specified.
Mónica García, the leader of Más Madrid in the Assembly, also asked for explanations and recalled that those 847,000 euros are equivalent to the school cafeteria for 700 children for an entire year. And Javier Padilla, deputy spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Madrid Assembly, recalled that the budget of the Madrid Executive for live music venues for an entire year is 350,000 euros. Hence, in his opinion, the concert was more aimed at "tourist development than at cultural offerings."
