Culture, the one greatly harmed by the new municipal budgets
The Jaca Hispano-French Comic Fair, a cultural event that brought together professionals and fans of the ninth art from Spain and France every two years, has been a victim of budget cuts by the Jaca City Council, governed by the PP with the support of Vox, Aragonese and the PAR. These four parties have approved accounts that eliminate the allocation allocated to this room, as well as aid to Development Cooperation, with the pretext that “it did not return enough money to the city.”
Meanwhile, spending on the Santa Orosia Festivities is increased, which will receive an additional 26,500 euros, and a new activity called “Jaca Reino y Leyenda” is created, which will have an endowment of 15,000 euros. These decisions have generated great controversy among the cultural and social sectors of the city, who see how culture is sacrificed for partisan interests.
A reference show in European comics
The Jaca Hispano-French Comic Fair was an essential event for comic lovers from both countries, who could enjoy exhibitions, conferences, workshops, signings and meetings with authors, editors, booksellers, agents and critics of the comic industry. The show was organized by the Aragonese Association of Comic Authors, which was born in 2014 with the aim of being a meeting and dissemination space for Aragonese comics. The Association, which has more than 60 members, has expressed its displeasure at the cancellation of the show and has announced that it will issue a statement in this regard.
The show had been held since 2007 and had achieved great international projection, being one of the few events that put comics professionals from France and Spain, two of the European powers in this field, in direct contact. The room also served to promote Aragonese comics and to encourage reading and creativity among young people.
The opposition denounces the indebtedness and lack of dialogue of the government team
Jaca’s municipal budgets have been harshly criticized by the opposition, especially by the Socialist Party, whose spokesperson, Olvido Moratinos, has lamented the increase in the City Council’s debt, which has skyrocketed by 70% in one year. Moratinos has reproached the government team for its “little management capacity” and “dialogue”, since the opposition has the same number of councilors as the government, and has also asked for more consensus with the workers’ representatives. Moratinos has described the budgets as “unfair, unsupportive and irresponsible.”
Other cases of cultural cancellations in Aragon due to the influence of Vox
The cancellation of the Jaca Hispano-French Comic Fair is not the only case in Aragon in which the influence of Vox in cultural matters has been noted. In December, the budgets of Huesca were approved, where the PP governs alone but needs the support of Vox, which imposed its conditions: the suppression of the budget for the Periferias festival, which it considered a “waste” that “only serves to water progressive culturetas with hundreds of thousands of euros”, and the reduction of Development Cooperation by 55%.
A similar situation was experienced in Zaragoza, where the PP also governs in a minority but agreed on the budgets with Vox. The far-right party already asked months ago for explanations about Etopia, the Zaragoza Art and Technology Center, a space where artists and researchers developed their projects. Finally, the City Council led by Natalia Chueca announced that the center’s activity was cancelled, except for what was already committed.
