Just a few days ago, together with the emancipation aid and other measures to regulate the price of rents, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced a 400 euro cultural voucher for young people who turn 18 in 2022. This voucher can be spent on cultural activities and products such as cinema, theater, musical shows, comics and videogames, among other things. These last two, comics and video games, have especially offended the opposition party, even more so because bullfighting does not fall within the cultural bonus. The leader of the Popular Party, Pablo Casado, has charged against comics and video games through social networks and the response from the fans has not been long in coming.
Through his personal Twitter account, Pablo Casado publishes an extract from an interview where he lists other measures that he would take if he were Prime Minister, instead of the 400-euro cultural bonus for young people who plan PSOE and Podemos for 2022. At the end of this tweet, disparagingly mentions comics and video games, disparaging their value as cultural products.
We will do the largest motherhood support plan in history.
With tax deductions, free 0-3 education, aid for emancipation and fertility treatments in public health.Less bonuses to spend on comics and video games, and more to bet on families. pic.twitter.com/ofCTbrbaz8
– Pablo Casado Blanco (@pablocasado_) October 10, 2021
As expected, this publication has not gone unnoticed and at this time it has hundreds of comments and mentions casting doubt on Casado’s criteria and his mistake in belittling two growing cultural industries that are generating more and more income and jobs in Spain. Only the video game industry had a turnover in Spain of 1,747 million euros in 2020, 18% more than the previous year, and created 9,000 jobs, according to AEVI (Spanish Association of Videogames). Spain has such important international development studios as MercurySteam, creators of Metroid Dread, The Game Kitchen, creators of Blasphemous, Tequila Works, Rime managers, and many other independent Spanish teams and subsidiaries of foreign companies.