Free show seats for health workers in Madrid

The city council has launched a scheme for pensioners, the unemployed and those on low incomes to be able to watch shows at half price, and a set number of seats will be reserved for medical workers – doctors, nurses, hospital porters and cleaners, among others – for free, as a way of thanking them for their sterling efforts in the face of the Coronavirus crisis.

The scheme is also an attempt to revive Madrid's arts and entertainment scene, says councillor for sports, culture and tourism, Andrea Levy.

“We can't allow the curtain to come down or the lights to dim on our cultural scene,” Sra Levy (pictured above) says.

The free seats for medical workers are part of a programme known as the 'Plan Aplaude Madrid', aimed at showing the region's and the city's gratitude to those on the front line by going beyond the 20.00 daily applause.

Half-price seats for concessions, and free ones for the health service, will involve around €7.5 million in funding which is expected to benefit the arts and entertainment industries by helping to attract the public again and recoup some of their losses.

Theatres will get just under €1.91m, cinemas €1.73m, live music venues €1.34m, and theatre, dance and circus companies €530,000 to help them meet utility bills and rental costs between March and September and to be able to afford the reduced-rate and free seats.

Recipients of the funds have to commit to not closing down for at least a year after the State of Alarm ends.

Various other benefits are available for other types of venues and visitor attractions, plus rent reduction, and grants for adapting premises to meet new health and safety requirements dictated by the Covid-19 outbreak.

The council has pledged to keep 85% of contracts it has with industry figures in place for the next year and to reschedule cancelled events as much as possible and as soon as is feasible.