Fulls de Cultura

No. 33 | October 2015 http://cultura.gencat.cat/dadesculturals/

Cultural Associations in 2013

Núria Mutilva and Marta Llatcha. Technical Office

In 2008 the Ministry of Culture began studying the cultural third sector in Catalonia with the overall aim of learning about the complex reality of cultural foundations, associations and federations in Catalonia and measuring their activity and social and economic impact. The third sector means all non-profit associations which carry out social activities and are not in the public sector. This report is a continuation of the series of analyses of the various statistical operations about the cultural third sector that are available here.

In this year’s statistical operation the universe under study is an estimated 3,500 cultural associations whose primary goal is to conduct a range of activities connected with cultural traditions and expressions with popular roots in Catalonia. Associations which carry out some cultural activities but not as their main purpose were discarded.

1. Main results

The Cultural Associations Statistics 2013 draw on information gathered at firsthand through the cooperation of the organisations which have actively taken part by answering a self-administered questionnaire. Table 1 includes some of the main results of the fieldwork.

Table 1. Main results. 2013 Cultural associations in Catalonia Number of associations 3,445 Participants in governing bodies 25,290 Members 431,290 Average members / association 125 Staff 51,261 Volunteers 48,995 Paid 2,266 Annual budget (52% of the organisations) under €5,000

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Analysis of the answers of the stakeholders that make up the cultural third sector draws a varied picture in terms of the spatial distribution of the cultural activities carried out by the organisations. Thus there are festive elements that are present only in some areas because of their distinctly local nature, while other cultural events cover almost the whole of Catalonia. Map 1 shows the distribution of cultural associations and the number of their members in Catalonia with some of the special features that characterise the organisations in each area.

Map 1. Number of cultural associations and members in Catalonia by geographical area. 2013

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It also demonstrates the strength of a complex and diverse associations movement which is both active and also deeply rooted. Detailed analysis of the associations’ answers reveals significant points such as the following:

In absolute terms the metropolitan area hosts most of the cultural associations (half of the total for Catalonia), but the areas with the highest density of associations per inhabitant are the and Terres de l'Ebre with 9 organisations per 10,000 people.

Music, dance, cercaviles (street parades) and miscellaneous traditions are the predominant cultural fields in associations around the country which also extend their activities to adjacent Catalan-speaking territories based on geographical proximity.

Most organisations were founded in the process of cultural revival following Franco’s dictatorship, although in the 19th century there were cultural institutions in all territorial areas.

In the metropolitan area participation in coordination bodies such as federations, associations or coordinating committees is far higher than in other areas inland or far from Barcelona.

Although the majority of cultural activities extend across the whole of Catalonia, there is a strong relationship between the number of associations operating in specific cultural contexts and the place of origin of these cultural traditions and practices.

The organisations have 430,000 members and are growing as on average 3.3 new members joined per organisation in 2013. The figure for new casteller (human tower) group members is especially good at 15.

In general the organisations operate with little infrastructure and few resources: 80% use facilities loaned to them, 95.6% of their employees are unpaid volunteers, and half of the associations have an annual budget coming to less than €5,000.

Although 80% of the organisations receive some kind of government grant, financial assistance accounts for only 33% of their annual revenue.

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2. Cultural associations in Catalonia

2.1. Associations are in all areas of the country but at varying rates

In 2013 a total of 3,445 cultural associations were considered to be active in Catalonia. In line with the high concentration of population, half of the organisations are in the metropolitan area (50.9%). In second place are the Comarques Centrals with 13.5% of the organisations, even though the area is in fourth place in terms of population, followed by associations in Camp de (12%) and (10.4%). However, when these figures are compared to the population of each area, the Comarques Centrals and Terres de l'Ebre stand out as having a density of organisations per 10,000 inhabitants that is significantly higher than the other areas in the country.

Map 2. Cultural associations per 10,000 inhabitants in Catalonia by geographical area. 2013

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2.2. Music, dance and traditions are the most widespread activities

The organisations carry out two types of cultural activities: ones related to time-honoured Catalan traditions and customs, and ones which are popular manifestations of other cultural and artistic expressions.

The most popular activity is music with over half of cultural organisations running musical events. Here Catalonia’s strong choral tradition stands out since almost 40% of organisations carrying out musical activities say they have a choir or choral society. About another third of cultural associations say they work in the field of miscellaneous traditions and also in dance and cercaviles.

Slightly behind comes amateur theatre, which includes some traditional performances and is undertaken by a quarter of the organisations as shown in Table 2. Furthermore, fire is a key factor in numerous Catalan traditions and can be found throughout the country, although correfoc (running with fireworks) is the one to have spread most uniformly.

The Festa Major (town festival) is the setting par excellence where many popular traditions and customs take place, and this underlines the local nature of cultural events. Many of the activities of the 12.6% of organisations that parade with gegants (giants: hollow figures several feet tall) are held during town festivals. Finally, despite accounting for a smaller proportion of the total number of organisations, the casteller tradition is particularly important in the areas where it first began and is also spreading across the country. In addition to Catalan traditions and customs, third sector organisations also conduct other artistic and cultural expressions that do not come under traditional customs but nonetheless are manifestations of popular culture as they are carried out by associations. This group includes heritage (which covers archives, museums, libraries, historical and archaeological heritage, local studies, ethnography and restoration), communication and audiovisual production activities. However, these cultural areas are less common in associations.

Table 2. Cultural association activities in Catalonia (*). 2013

Customs and traditions Total Catalonia Cultural and artistic expression Total Catalonia Music 56.6% Heritage 16.4% Dance and cercaviles 30.4% Communication 15.8% Misc. traditions (1) 33.3% Audiovisual production 12.8% Theatre 24.3% Literature 7.5% Bestiari (real or imaginary animal figures) and foc (fire and/or fire- 17.8% Visual arts 7.1% works) Gegants 12.6% Promoting culture abroad 9.3% Castellers 3.9% Architecture and town planning 0.5% Crafts (2) 7.3% Philosophy and humanities 1.4% Contemporary thought 1.5%

(*) Multiple answers

(1) This section includes tres tombs (animal parades), romeus (pilgrims) and colles (groups), festivals and other traditions. (2) Lace making and building Nativity scenes.

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2.3. Associations straddling tradition and modernity

Figures for the year when the organisations where founded show that there was a major period of regeneration of cultural associations between 1975 and 2000, which is explained by the resurgence of Catalan culture following Franco’s dictatorship. Across the country there was tremendous growth in the number of organisations and around 50% of the organisations existing today were set up in this period, with the exception of where 50% of its associations have been newly created in the 21st century. However, it is significant that 13.4% of organisations were founded before 1944 and there were cultural associations in all geographical areas of Catalonia in the 19th century. Table 3. Year of foundation of cultural associations in Catalonia. 2013 Before 18th c. 18th c. 19th c. 1900-24 1925-44 1950-75 1975-2000 After 2000 Alt Pirineu i Aran - - 6.3% - - 6.2% 37.5% 50.0% Terres de l’Ebre - - 3.0% 7.5% 4.5% 7.5% 55.1% 22.4% - - 1.1% 2.2% 6.5% 10.8% 40.8% 38.6% Comarques Gi- - - 4.8% 2.7% 4.1% 10.9% 53.0% 24.5% ronines 0.7% 0.7% 1.3% 0.7% 3.3% 11.2% 53.2% 28.9% Comarques Centrals - - 4.2% 4.7% 2.6% 15.8% 51.1% 21.6% Metropolitan area - 0.2% 5.9% 5.9% 6.1% 9.3% 46.6% 26.0% Catalonia 0.1% 0.2% 4.2% 4.2% 4.7% 10.9% 49.0% 26.7%

2.4. Registering with coordination bodies is a metropolitan trait Cultural organisations can register with other bodies covering a larger geographical area which usually bring together several organisations as a coordinating committee, federation or association. Where the organisation is has a significant influence on the relationship between it and these unifying bodies. Hence distance from Barcelona leads to lower levels of registration with higher tier bodies as shown in Table 4 for Alt Pirineu i Aran and Terres de l’Ebre. Conversely, the centrality of the metropolitan area translates into more interconnected organisations.

The preferred territorial level for joining a federation is Catalonia with a very minor presence of Spanish bodies which is even below registration with international organisations. The distinguishing feature of the organisations in Alt Pirineu i Aran, whose registration rate with international organisations is above average, can in all probability be explained by the influence of Occitan culture in the Val d’Aran and because the lie astride an international border.

Table 4. Registration by cultural associations in Catalonia with bodies. 2013 Catalan Spanish International Not reg. Alt Pirineu i Aran 22.8% 0.1% 5.2% 75.0% Terres de l’Ebre 25.0% 1.8% 1.3% 73.1% Ponent 45.1% 0.0% 1.2% 58.0% Comarques Gironines 43.4% 1.9% 2.1% 57.1% Camp de Tarragona 42.2% 2.0% 1.4% 57.8% Comarques Centrals 45.3% 0.9% 1.7% 56.8% Metropolitan area 54.7% 1.8% 2.3% 45.3% Total 48.3% 1.6% 2.0% 54.0%

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3. Catalonia: rich and diverse in popular and traditional culture

The breakdown of the results by cultural activity area and geographical area reveals the differences between regions, which activities are associated with a particular area and which are conducted throughout Catalonia. Music, dancing, cercaviles and miscellaneous traditions are the activities most performed in all geographical areas, although the wealth of Catalan folk customs means that each territory has its own activities with special features. In general there is a strong relationship between the activities most deeply rooted in a territory and those originating in the same place.

The idea of proximity is present in all areas and for all cultural activities since the vast majority of organisations conduct their activities in their town or county. Despite this commitment to proximity, cultural permeability with neighbouring territories is significant as many organisations run activities with the influence of cultural traditions from other Catalan-speaking territories.

The following sections discuss the types of activity and special features of cultural associations depending on their geographical location, searching for individual patterns which show the variety and richness of Catalan popular and traditional culture. The main differences and singularities in the behaviour of cultural organisations in each geographical area with respect to the Catalan average are highlighted in blue.

3.1. Alt Pirineu i Aran: accordions and local traditions

Alt Pirineu i Aran consists of the counties of Alta Ribagorça, Alt , Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà and Val d’Aran, and where data were collected about 39 cultural third sector organisations, 1.1% of the total. Here associations for music, dancing, cercaviles and miscellaneous traditions are above the average for Catalonia.

In terms of music the number of organisations working with accordions is significant, an activity promoted by the annual celebration of the Pyrenees Accordionists Gathering in Arsèguel. This instrument is also usually connected with other manifestations of popular culture and thus the organisations which promote the accordion also recover dances that are typical of the Pyrenees and some local festivals.

As for folk traditions, there are deeply rooted local ones such as rafters going down rivers and the falles or burning logs sent down rivers on St. John’s Eve. There are two aspects to dancing in the area: firstly there are folk dances with specific associations for traditional Alt Pirineu folk dances, such as the Ball dels Rigodons at Sort, and then secondly organisations promoting dance double the Catalan average in percentage terms.

Conversely, theatre has a significantly smaller presence than in the rest of Catalonia and castellers are nonexistent. Table 5 shows the most significant cultural events in Alt Pirineu i Aran.

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Table 5. Main cultural areas. 2013 Alt Pirineu i Aran Catalonia Folk dancing 50.0% 32.2% Accordionists 40.0% 4.3% Other traditions 37.5% 14.6% Promoting dance 33.3% 17.2% Cornets and drums 20.0% 12.5%

As for geographical reach, the organisations concentrate their activities in their town and county and to a lesser extent in Catalonia as a whole. The geographical position of the territory and the specificity of traditional practices explain these dynamics and the higher frequency of performance and relations with . Table 6. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Alt Pirineu i Aran Catalonia Town 87.5% 86.5% County 68.8% 68.2% Catalonia 56.3% 67.6%

Andorra 12.5% 7.4% Franja de Ponent 6.3% 7.2%

3.2. Terres de l’Ebre: folk dances accompanied by a band

Terres de l’Ebre consist of the counties of , Montsià, Ribera d’Ebre and , where 168 cultural organisations operate (4.9% of associations). Music is the most common form among Ebre cultural institutions, far ahead of any other cultural field. By contrast the other activities have a presence below the average for Catalonia.

In the field of music what really stands out is the fact that half of the organisations have bands, a tradition shared with the Region of Valencia where they are also a deeply rooted tradition. In addition a significant percentage of organisations are engaged in other music activities typical of Terres de l’Ebre such as rondalles (stories accompanied by music) and jotes (music and dance) which are also widely found in the Region of Valencia and especially in Aragon, territories bordering Terres de l’Ebre.

Bands and xaranga groups are often accompanied by parades and majorettes and where the frequency of organisations is nearly triple the Catalan average. As for theatre, it includes representations of the Passions as several towns have a long tradition and cultural organisations specialising in this genre.

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Table 7. Main cultural areas. 2013

Terres de l’Ebre Catalonia Bands 50.0% 10.9% Folk dancing 45.0% 32.2% Cornets and drums 20.5% 12.5% Passions 17.6% 6.9% Parades and majorettes 15.0% 5.2% Other music 9.1% 4.8%

Terres de l’Ebre has the largest number of organisations which have ties with the rest of Spain since obviously its adjoining geographical position results in a strong relationship for Ebre cultural organisations, especially with the Region of Valencia and the Franja de Ponent.

Table 8. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Terres de l’Ebre Catalonia National 34.3% 23.0% Region of Valencia 29.9% 8.8% Franja de Ponent 22.4% 7.2%

3.3. Ponent: ancient festive traditions and traditional music Ponent includes the counties of , , Pla d’Urgell, , Segrià and Urgell and hosts 7.2% of organisations in Catalonia, i.e. 248 cultural associations. The activities most carried out by Ponent associations are music, dance, miscellaneous traditions and cercaviles.

The breakdown of these categories shows that the music scene is dominated by organisations that make traditional music, in addition to choirs which are ubiquitous. There are also lots of groups playing the gralla (a woodwind instrument in the shawm family) in Ponent, but the number of organisations that play cornets and drums to accompany bestiari and foc groups and certain festive traditions is well above the average for Catalonia.

In terms of traditions, although romeus and colles do not involve many organisations in absolute numbers as popular festivals predominate, they are much more common in Ponent than in any other place in Catalonia. As for dance, Ponent is home to many groups performing the sardana (Catalonia’s national dance) but parades and majorettes stand out at twice the rate for the whole of Catalonia. Finally, minority areas include the relative importance of museum and ethnographic activities and performances of nativity scenes.

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Table 9. Main cultural areas. 2013 Ponent Catalonia

Ethnography 75.0% 23.9% Sardanes 44.8% 35.9%

Traditional music 30.2% 22.6% Museums 25.0% 10.8%

Living nativity scenes 21.1% 10.0% Cornets and drums 18.9% 12.5%

Parades and majorettes 10.3% 5.2% Romeus and colles 8.1% 2.0%

Organisations in Ponent carry out their activities especially in the local realm (town and county) while also maintaining stronger ties with the Franja de Ponent compared to other regions due their obvious geographical proximity.

Table 10. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Ponent Catalonia Town 84.8% 86.5% County 72.8% 68.2% Catalonia 62.0% 67.6% Franja de Ponent 18.5% 7.2% Andorra 10.9% 7.4%

3.4. Comarques Gironines: cradle of the cobla and the sardana

Comarques Gironines consists of the counties of Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, , , Gironès, Pla de l’Estany, Ripollès and La , hosting 359 cultural third sector organisations. The most common activities coincide with the rest of Catalonia, i.e. music, dance and miscellaneous traditions and cercaviles are predominant, although the importance of theatre is significant.

In both music and dance revolve around the sardana and the cobla, the classic wind instrument group that accompanies it. While the sardana is one of the most widespread popular dances and the national dance of Catalonia, it has its oldest and most intense manifestations in Comarques Gironines. Complementary to the sardana and the cobla, quite a number of organisations say they have orchestras while also in the field of music the havanera, a genre of song typical of the Empordà coast, is very important.

Moreover, the province also has its own traditions that are not large enough to be considered a category in the analysis by themselves but do contain features specific to the area. They include the Manípul de Manaies parade at Banyoles in which people dress up as Roman soldiers and other Manaies groups in towns such as Girona and Verges. Finally, the results indicate a greater proportion of craft organisations engaged in making Nativity scenes than in the rest of Catalonia.

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Table 11. Main cultural areas. 2013 Comarques Gironines Catalonia Nativity scenes 76.9% 50.0% Sardanes 61.9% 35.9% Choirs 47.4% 38.7%

Pastorets theatre 37.8% 29.9% Orchestras 21.1% 7.9% Clowns 18.9% 10.0% Cobles 17.1% 8.7% Havaneres 13.2% 4.9%

In terms of geographic reach associations in Comarques Gironines interact at an international level in a higher proportion than the Catalan average, although the majority of activities are still carried out in the local area. Obviously the most important interaction with other Catalan-speaking territories is with North Catalonia across the border in southern France due to its geographic contiguity.

Table 12. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Comarques Gironines Catalonia Town 85.7% 86.5% County 68.0% 68.2% International 24.5% 19.6% North Catalonia 19.0% 13.0%

3.5. Camp de Tarragona: castells and bastons to the rhythm of the gralla

Camp de Tarragona includes the counties of Tarragonès, , , Baix Penedès, Conca de Barberà and and has 413 cultural organisations. While mainstream activities in Tarragona follow the same pattern as the rest of Catalonia, i.e. music, miscellaneous traditions, dance and cercaviles, bestiari and foc activity is higher than the Catalan average mainly because of bestiari associations. Additionally, although casteller organisations are few in absolute numbers, they have a higher representation here than in the rest of Catalonia as the tradition comes from this area.

As for specific activities, gralla groups and ball de bastons (a ritual weapon dance with sticks) groups are not only more frequent compared to the total for Catalonia but they are also the most common music and dance activities in el Camp de Tarragona. This is because the gralla is an instrument that traditionally accompanies bastoner dance groups and castellers.

Table 13. Main cultural areas. 2013 Camp de Tarragona Catalonia Grallers 37.5% 28.7% Bastoners 31.7% 17.2% Ball de gitanes 9.8% 6.7% Castells 5.3% 3.9% Ball d’en Serrallonga 4.9% 1.5%

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In dance the Ball d’en Serrallonga and ball de gitanes, traditional dances that are typical of Camp de Tarragona, are common. Although popular dance is not present at a rate higher than the average for Catalonia, it is especially diverse in Camp de Tarragona as organisations perform a number of traditional dances usually during Festa Major celebrations (they include the ball de Patatuf, ball dels 7 pecats capitals and the ball de Sant Miquel). In the bestiari and foc category the spoken dance tradition stands out, a theatre of dancing devils with verses or satires spoken by the devils, which is characteristic of Penedès, and Camp de Tarragona.

In terms of geographical areas, local activity remains predominant although there has been an increase in the organisations’ reach into the rest of the Catalonia. The presence of casteller groups at gatherings, meetings or events around Catalonia helps with and fosters these territorial relationships. Organisations from Camp de Tarragona perform in all areas of the Catalan-speaking territories and at a rate higher than the Catalan average in the Region of Valencia, the Balearic Islands and the Franja de Ponent.

Table 14. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Camp de Tarragona Catalonia Town 86.8% 86.5% County 79.6% 68.2% Catalonia 75.7% 67.6% Region of Valencia 13.2% 8.8% Balearic Islands 9.2% 7.1% Franja de Ponent 8.6% 7.2%

3.6. Comarques Centrals: land of caramelles, pastorets and trabucaires

The Comarques Centrals are , , Berguedà, and Solsonès, and 464 cultural organisations operate there. As in the rest of Catalonia music, miscellaneous traditions and dance predominate, but in this case theatre is also prominent. Both the latter activity and gegant associations have a presence that is significantly higher than the average for Catalonia.

In music the main activity is concentrated in gralla groups that often are linked to another activity which has a great presence in the territory, gegant groups. Also significant are organisations dedicated to caramelles, a type of song which originates from this area. Here caramelles have a much higher participation rate than the rest of the territory and are the second most performed singing activity in central Catalonia after choirs and choral societies.

Other special features of the area include performing the Christmas Nativity play els Pastorets as the most outstanding genre in the field of amateur theatre, the presence of falcons (gymnastic and acrobatic construction) groups despite originally being from Penedès, and a presence of trabucaires (groups armed with blunderbusses representing ancient Catalan ‘bandits’) much higher than the Catalan average, and slightly higher for tres tombs festivals.

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Table 15. Main cultural areas. 2013

Comarques Centrals Catalonia Pastorets 40.7% 29.9%

Grallers 36.8% 28.7% Falcons 28.6% 19% Caramelles 24.5% 9.4% Trabucaires 20.7% 11.5% Gegants 16.8% 12.6% Tres tombs 13.7% 11.8%

The geographical reach of cultural third sector organisations in the Comarques Centrals is confined mainly to their local town and county. In relation to the rest of Catalan-speaking territories the associations in this area follow the pattern set by Catalan associations as a whole without any strong relationship with any particular area, which could be explained by the fact that it does not border any of these territories.

Table 16. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Comarques Centrals Catalonia Town 88.4% 86.5% County 68.9% 68.2%

3.7. The metropolitan area: cross-cutting traditions and local customs

The metropolitan area includes the counties of Alt Penedès, , Barcelonès, Garraf, , Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental and has 1,754 cultural third sector organisations. More than half of Catalan organisations are registered in this territory and so their features match the portrait of Catalan cultural associations, albeit with some special features.

In music the most frequent activities are choirs and choral societies, which cut across the whole of Catalonia. The tradition of the tres tombs festival is followed with special intensity in this area, mainly due to its establishment in el Vallès. In addition, although falcon groups originate from Penedès they now have a presence in the metropolitan area and central Catalonia.

Special features compared to the average are found in the field of dance, as esbarts (traditional dance groups) have a significantly higher presence in the metropolitan area than anywhere else in Catalonia. The same applies to the ball de gitanes which has stronger roots here and in el Camp de Tarragona than in the rest of the country.

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Table 17. Main cultural areas. 2013 Metropolitan area Catalonia

Choirs and cho- 43.3% 38.7%

Esbarts 29.7% 19.6% Falcons 27.3% 19.0% Theatre 26% 24.3% Tres tombs 17.3% 11.8% Ball de gitanes 11% 6.7%

While still largely local, organisations in the metropolitan area operate more frequently at the national level than other organisations in the region, probably due to the presence of more federations, coordinating committees and groups of associations or because the area is geographically central, contains the capital of Catalonia and is demographically important. As for the relationship with other Catalan-speaking territories, this centrality means that relationships are not particularly outstanding in any area, although its performances can be found everywhere.

Table 18. The associations’ geographical reach. 2013 Metropolitan area Catalonia Town 84.3% 86.5% Catalonia 71.8% 67.6% County 60.3% 68.2% International 20.3% 19.6%

4. Catalonia’s cultural associations are going through a good period

4.1. Over 430,000 Catalans are members of a cultural organisation

Cultural third sector organisations in Catalonia had over 430,000 members in 2013, 5.7% of the country’s population. 53.1% of these members are in the metropolitan area, a figure slightly higher than the percentage of organisations registered there (50.9%). However, in terms of size by number of members Ponent lead the standings with 185 members per organisation. In second place are organisations in Comarques Gironines and the metropolitan area with 141 and 130 members respectively. The last position is occupied by organisations in Alt Pirineu i Aran, which seems to indicate that there is no direct or inverse correlation between the population density of an area and the size of its organisations.

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Table 19. Members of Catalan cultural associations. 2013 Members / No. members Average per org. Percentage 10,000 inhab. Alt Pirineu i Aran 3,456 88.6 0.8% 461.6 Terres de l'Ebre 18,263 108.7 4.2% 966.9 Ponent 46,003 185.5 10.7% 1,253.1

Comarques Gironines 50,596 140.9 11.7% 677.5 Camp de Tarragona 42,241 102.3 9.8% 679.9 Comarques Centrals 41,920 90.3 9.7% 816.5 Metropolitan area 228,810 130.5 53.1% 453.9 Total 431,290 125.2 100.0% 571.0

Furthermore, in terms of members per 10,000 inhabitants Ponent also has a higher participation rate of people in cultural associations compared to other areas followed quite some way behind by Terres de l’Ebre and Comarques Centrals. In this case the metropolitan area comes last in the table due to its demographic concentration.

Map 3. Members per 10,000 inhabitants by geographical areas. 2013

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By cultural areas, members especially take part in organisations in dance and cercaviles (24.6%) and music (23.4%), although the associations with the largest number of members are casteller groups at an average of 222 per organisation because a lot of people are needed to build the human towers.

The balance of members leaving and joining organisations suggests that Catalan cultural associations are going through a good period as they saw their number of members grow by 3.3 on average in 2013. This upward trend is especially marked in casteller organisations with 15.5 new members per group on average driven by the boom in human towers in recent years.

As for the profile of members, analysis shows intergenerational associations tending to gender parity and where most members are natives. The most frequent age group in Catalan cultural organisations is 45 to 64 at 28.8% of members, followed by the band between 30 and 44 at 23.8% of members. From a gender perspective the presence of men is slightly higher (51.7%) among members and finally 9 out of 10 members were born in Catalonia.

4.2. Cultural associations have a solid organisational structure

In Catalonia there are 25,290 people who in addition to being members of a cultural organisation are also on its board. Catalan cultural associations show a preference for a classic internal management model with a board of moderate size with just over seven members on average and in which the traditional method of meetings of the organisation’s bodies takes precedence over assemblies and meetings of all members.

Table 20. Board members. 2013 Board members Members Percentage Average per org.

25,290 431,290 5.9% 7.3

Table 21. Internal meetings. 2013. Annual average Meetings of bodies Assemblies and meetings Other 10 2.9 1.8

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5. Organisations are partly dependent on other stakeholders for infrastructure

Cultural organisations need equipment or premises where they can conduct their activities, rehearse or store material. Most associations have exclusive use of these facilities (71.9%) and the main tenure system is lending of the facility by public or private institutions.

Figure 1. Tenure of the building or main headquarters of cultural associations in Catalonia. 2013

Most geographical areas are around the Catalan average in terms of tenure of the associations’ headquarters with the exception of Alt Pirineu i Aran where there are hardly any organisations who rent facilities and by contrast lending facilities is much higher than average. As for exclusive use, organisations in Alt Pirineu i Aran are above the average for Catalonia inasmuch as a greater proportion of them are sole users of their facility (89.8%). On the other side of the coin are the organisations in Terres de l'Ebre which have to share their headquarters with other associations in 39.2% of cases.

In general organisations have simple premises without a large number of systems in which multifunctional spaces such as meeting rooms, multipurpose halls and rehearsal rooms predominate. With regard to cultural activities, there is a logical correlation between the type of activity performed by associations and the facilities they have. For example, casteller groups and music organisations exceed the Catalan average in terms rehearsal rooms, bestiari and foc groups have storage spaces where they can store their fireworks and figures, and theatre associations have a higher proportion of auditoriums.

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Figure 2. Main facilities in cultural association headquarters in Catalonia. 2013

Meeeting room 51,9%

Multipurpose room 48,5%

Rehearsals room 47,4% Storage room 40,8% Offices 38,9%

Archives 22,9%

Auditorius 22,8% Bar – Restaurant 16,7%

Exhibition room 15,6%

Reception 12,5% Library 11,0%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Overall a quarter of Catalan cultural organisations have their buildings free of architectural barriers for the disabled. Interestingly, this adaptation to the mobility needs of disabled people is particularly significant in casteller group facilities followed by visual arts venues with half of systems adapted, exactly twice the average nationwide.

The results are quite modest with respect to use of new technology. Less than half of cultural organisations have an internet connection. However, there is some variation between associations depending on the activities they do because, for example, more than 6 out of 10 organisations in the visual arts and audiovisual production are connected to internet. Territorially the metropolitan area has the most internet-connected organisations.

Less than half of the organisations said they had their own domain name. However, casteller groups are at the top of the table of cultural organisations with their own domain name and far ahead of other organisations. Specifically 96.4% of casteller groups have their own Internet domain name, which shows they are determined to publicise their activities and attract new members. The main use of IT tools is to inform non-members about the organisation’s activities, in other words publicity about the organisation directed to the outside world.

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Figure 3. Office automation equipment available cultural associations in Catalonia. 2013

Internet connection 43,8%

Own domain name 43,5%

Use for activity recipients 38,3%

Use for members 25,6%

Use for administrative management 14,9%

Other uses 7,0%

0% 25% 50% In terms of language, Catalan is the key language for cultural associations in our country as it clearly dominates the bulk of internal communications between members and recipients of the activities of the organisations. Thus 92.3% of associations write their emails in Catalan, way above the 13.4% of organisations that write them in the second ranking language, Spanish. In addition 60.3% of associations have an information website in Catalan, 10 times more than the number of organisations that provide their content in Spanish. Finally, English, French and Aranese are used very occasionally.

6. Voluntary work is crucial for organisations

51,260 people work in cultural organisations in the third sector in Catalonia who manage the daily running of the association and of which 53.1% are men. Geographically Camp de Tarragona hosts organisations with more men (59.2%) and Alt Pirineu i Aran has ones with more women (54.4%). Regarding the type of activity of the organisations, there is a strong male presence in the audiovisual production and bestiari and foc groups (66.7% and 61.1% respectively), while women are in the majority in communication (59.8%) and dance and cercaviles (54.4%).

Despite the considerable number of workers cultural organisations have, the vast majority of them are volunteers, i.e. they are not paid. In fact, for each paid worker in Catalan cultural associations there are 22 people working voluntarily, so this immense human and social capital in associations in Catalonia should be stressed. However, there are certain differences between geographical areas, such as the fact that in Ponent and Terres de l'Ebre the number of paid workers rises to 7.4% and 8.8%, almost twice the average for Catalonia. By contrast, in Alt Pirineu i Aran only 0.2% of workers receive remuneration for their work.

As for activities, music is able to reward a higher proportion of its workers (12.1%) and stands in contrast to castellers and bestiari and foc and gegants where almost everyone is a volunteer.

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Figure 4. Volunteers and paid staff of cultural associations in Catalonia. Contractual relationship of paid staff. 2013

Paid workers have different degrees of job stability according to whether they are permanent or temporary staff. While in Catalonia as a whole there is a balance between these two types of contracts for cultural association employees, tilted slightly towards permanent hiring (56.5%), more detailed analysis reveals significant geographical and sector differences. Thus while in Ponent the percentage of permanent staff stood at 82.7%, in Camp de Tarragona only 17.4% of workers in organisations are on indefinite contracts. The same difference is found between organisations according to the activity in which they are engaged: the associations for miscellaneous traditions have 84.4% of their workers on indefinite contracts although they are not many people in absolute terms. By contrast, 71% of workers in theatre groups are temporary hires.

As for the distribution of personnel by sectors, almost all of the paid workers (93%) and over half of the volunteers (57%) are concentrated in three areas: music (60% of paid workers and 20% of volunteers), dancing, cercaviles and theatre, as shown in figures 5 and 6.

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Figure 5. Percentage of total paid staff by sector. 2013

Figure 6. Percentage of total voluntary staff by sector. 2013

Turning to the number of hours worked by staff, in line with their eminently voluntary and informal commitment mostly work for the organisation occasionally (76.3%) while the number of people who work fulltime for the association is very small (4.7%). Occasional means working sporadically a few times a week or month. Organisations in Comarques Gironines and Terres de l'Ebre have a higher number of people working fulltime for associations (11.5% and 9.8% respectively) as opposed to Alt Pirineu i Aran and central Catalonia where fulltime work is virtually nonexistent and occasional work predominates (92% and 84.7% respectively).

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Music is the cultural area that has the largest number of staff working fulltime for organisations with twice the Catalan average and also with a quarter of staff working part-time (between 40% and 80% of the workday). At the other extreme are theatre, gegants and bestiari and foc organisations where more than 80% of staff work on an occasional basis.

Figure 7. Time commitment of cultural associations staff in Catalonia. 2013

Staff roles are spread fairly evenly between technicians, sector experts and managers in this order, and administrative work is less important at 7.2% of staff. Alt Pirineu i Aran, however, stand out for the high number of managerial positions in their organisations (60.2%) and in Ponent technical tasks are 11 percentage points above the average. In terms of sectors, associations dedicated to heritage, audiovisual production and dances and cercaviles also have more technical staff than other organisations.

Figure 8. Staff roles in cultural associations in Catalonia. 2013

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7. Small budgets used for everyday expenses

Catalan cultural associations consist of a dense network of small organisations combined with some larger ones as shown by the fact that in 2013 more than half of Catalan cultural organisations had a budget of less than €5,000. In addition, 65.4% of these organisations with a budget of less than €5,000 have less than €3,000. At the other extreme, only 8.5% of the associations have more than €50,000 per year.

Figure 9. Annual budget of cultural associations. 2013

By cultural sectors gegants, bestiari and foc groups and associations working with communication and audiovisual production have budgets in the lower band. 46.7% of gegants organisations have budgets below €3,000 and the figure rises to 85% for budgets under €10,000. The budgets of bestiari and foc groups are below €3,000 in 36.2% of cases and this rises to 84.5% for a ceiling of €10,000. Finally, around 80% of communication and audiovisual production associations are also under this ceiling.

At the other end of the scale organisations working in visual arts with budgets over €25,000 accounted for 46.9% of the total. In the case of casteller groups, 42% of organisations have over €25,000 in funds, going up to 76.4% of organisations if the threshold is set at €10,000.

Interestingly, amateur theatre organisations follow a trend similar to Catalan organisations as a whole except in the band over €50,000 where 15.4% of associations were to be found, almost double the average.

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Turning to revenue, one third of funding comes from grants from various tiers of government. Secondly, organisations receive membership fees, income from the sale of goods and services and fundraising. Thus although grants are the most important revenue stream, organisations are not totally dependent on them as most also manage to earn a fair amount of money themselves. By contrast, donations and sponsorships have minimal importance due at least in part to the small tax incentive for sponsoring non-profit cultural organisations.

Figure 10. Cultural associations’ revenue by source. 2013

By geographical area the distribution of the source of funds in Alt Pirineu i Aran is markedly different from other areas. There the main source of funding is still grants but they account for almost half of the budget of the associations. By contrast to the rest of the country, a quarter of funds comes from fundraising instead of membership fees, which represent only 11.7% of revenue and are at the same level as donations.

Turning to cultural areas, gegants groups were the organisations where grants accounted for the largest percentage of revenue at 54.7% of their budgets. The organisations which most heavily self-financed their work are communication and audiovisual production at 54.1% and 41% of their revenue from fees respectively. As for the sale of goods and services, theatre groups exceeded the average by 10 percentage points, due perhaps to the sale of tickets for their shows. Similarly, casteller groups are also above the average for this item.

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80.6% of Catalan cultural organisations say they receive grants from government. As they are markedly local organisations, almost all the associations receive grants from the local council in their town. To a lesser extent provincial councils and the Catalan Government fund over a quarter of the organisations, as opposed to the almost non-existent contribution from the Spanish central government. County councils make a relatively minor contribution that is about the same as funding from savings banks. The impact on future funding for cultural associations of the disappearance of the traditional model of savings banks in Catalonia and their conversion into banks remains to be seen.

Figure 11. Cultural organisation revenue by tier of public and/or private institutions. 2013

The regional breakdown of grants shows that organisations in Alt Pirineu i Aran are below the average 68.7% for public funding and their source is also different; many receive grants from local councils but to a lesser extent than other Catalan organisations, half of the associations are supported by Provincial Council and the quantity of funds from savings banks is much higher than average. In the metropolitan area and the Comarques Centrals local councils are the major contributors of public money as they cover over 95% of organisations. Overall, the Catalan Government supports a higher percentage of organisations in more rural areas, Terres de l'Ebre, Alt Pirineu i Aran and Ponent, where the role of county councils is also more significant.

Practically all casteller groups get grants (96.3%) while at the opposite extreme are communication, theatre and heritage organisations with percentages below 70%. As for the origin of the grants, provincial councils give financial support to a number of casteller groups and dance and cercaviles organisations (47.7% and 41.4% of associations, respectively). Savings banks give their grants in particular to visual arts and, to a lesser extent, heritage organisations.

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Almost two thirds of the cultural associations’ income is allocated to running costs (rent, taxes, buying consumables, utilities such as water, electricity, telephone, transport, etc.). In Camp de Tarragona these expenses come to 72.6% of the budget of the organisations. By contrast and because most of their staff are volunteers, personnel costs are very low, although staff costs in Terres de l'Ebre are higher probably due to the importance of activities involving musicians. Investment in buildings, machinery, furniture and computer equipment is significantly higher in Alt Pirineu i Aran compared to the rest of Catalonia, although it only accounts for 9.6% of total expenditure by associations in the area.

Figure 12. Cultural organisations’ expenses by use. 2013

By sector running costs are especially high in bestiari and foc associations due to the activity they perform, which involves buying fireworks and providing safety equipment. Casteller and gegants groups also lead the ranking with respect to the importance of running costs, probably due to the special transport needs of their normal activity. Staff costs are 10 points higher than the average in organisations engaged in music, as already noted in Terres de l’Ebre, possibly due to payment to musicians. Finally, investment takes up a significant part of the budget of theatre groups, due to buying technical equipment and scenery, and of organisations involved in audiovisual production.

Source: Statistics for the Cultural Third Sector in Catalonia . Associations 2013 Publication date: October 2015 Publisher: Technical Office ISSN: 2385-3255 Legal deposit: B 5700-2014

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