Last week, a significant number of artists, gallery owners, and art collectors gathered in museums throughout Spain to highlight the country's elevated cultural VAT, which stands at a steep 21 percent. This movement saw over 100 demonstrators occupy the floor of Madrid's Museo Reina Sofía, particularly in the section dedicated to the renowned American artist Richard Serra. They surrounded a replica of the sculpture Equal-Parallel/Guernica-Bengasi, which mysteriously disappeared from storage between 1990 and 2005. One protester remarked, "The sector is going to disappear just like this piece vanished."
This sit-in was part of a broader initiative by the visual arts community to urge the government to reconsider the VAT on cultural goods, a rate that has remained unchanged since 2012. Organizers noted that neighboring countries have significantly more favorable rates: Italy charges 5 percent, France 5.5 percent, Germany 7 percent, and Portugal 6 percent.
During the protest, participants chanted the varying VAT rates, demanding government action. "We are not a luxury industry... we are culture," they proclaimed, while also calling for the resignation of Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun and Finance Minister María Jesús Montero, citing years of governmental inaction on this pressing issue.
This demonstration followed a symbolic gallery closure across Spain on February 2, protesting the high VAT. The timing was particularly poignant as it occurred just weeks before the 45th edition of ARCOmadrid, Spain's premier contemporary art fair. Organizers emphasized that the 21 percent VAT places Spanish galleries at a notable disadvantage compared to their international counterparts. For instance, a €10,000 artwork sold in Paris would amount to €12,100 with VAT, while the same piece in France, with a 5.5 percent VAT, would cost €10,550--an essential difference that could determine the success of a sale.
Idoia Fernández, president of the Consortium of Contemporary Art Galleries of Spain, articulated that the protest aimed to "ask for equality." Protesters displayed banners stating, "We are not asking for privileges, we are asking for equality," underscoring the message that "there are no museums without art, nor a country without heritage."
Similar sit-ins occurred at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville, the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern in Valencia, and the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Inside the Reina Sofía, the atmosphere varied from frustration to fatigue, as many visitors seemed oblivious to the protest. Nevertheless, organizers conveyed a sense of urgency: without a VAT reduction, Spain's galleries could fall behind European competitors, endangering the nation's cultural landscape.
In a notable contrast, after years of advocacy by Italian galleries and artists, the Italian government recently announced a reduction of its VAT on art sales to just 5 percent, down from 22 percent, which was the highest in the European Union.
