420 cinemas join the program to offer discounts to those over 65 years of age

64.22% of private cinemas in Spain (420) have decided to join the government initiative to offer direct aid to those over 65 years of age, a commitment by the Ministry of Culture and Sports to recover an age group that has not yet returned to the theaters.

Starting Tuesday, July 11, the people over 65 years old They will be able to go to the cinema at a reduced price of 2 euros, one day a week, in any of the 420 exhibition spaces from all over Spain who have taken advantage of the measure promoted by the Government to encourage a return to the theaters. Together, there are more than 3,000 projection screens distributed throughout the territory. By autonomous community, in Andalusia 77 cinemas have joined; in Aragon, 16; in Asturias, 6; in the Balearic Islands there have been 12; in the Canary Islands, 11; in Cantabria, 4; in Castilla-La Mancha, 17; in Castilla y León, 27; in Catalonia, 76; in the Valencian Community there have been 55; in Extremadura, 8; in Galicia, 17; in La Rioja, 3; in Madrid, 44; in Murcia, 10; in Navarra, 7; in the Basque Country, 28; 1 in Ceuta and 1 in Melilla.

According to the Royal Decree approved by the Council of Ministers On June 13, at the proposal of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, the measure will allow one day a week, preferably on Tuesdays or another day in the case of theaters that only open during the weekend or that close on Tuesdays, people aged 65 or over can watch a movie for 2 euros. Tickets can only be issued at the box office of the theaters, after identification of the person and proof of their age.

The program has a budget of 10 million euros in charge of the General State Budgets 2023. The theaters will receive the amount of the subsidy depending on the number of tickets sold at a reduced price, depending on the difference between their ordinary price and the reduced price of two euros, with a maximum eligible amount of three euros per ticket.

People aged 65 and over constitute the age group that is taking the longest to resume cinema attendance habits in theaters prior to the pandemic. Thus, notable differences between age groups are still observed in cinema attendance: if 49.3% of young people aged 20 to 24 went to the cinema at least once a year between 2021 and 2022, that percentage falls to 6% in the older population.