Spain
Audience Research. Population Surveys. February 2024. Report by the Ministry of Culture. Spain
Audience Research. Population Surveys
Regarding the data obtained from population surveys, the Division for Statistics and Studies provides the following references:
The Survey of Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain 2021-2022, is an official statistics produced on a three-year basis that is included in the National Statistics Plan. It is a sample survey that is conducted by the Division for Statistics and Studies of the General Technical Secretariat from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and directed towards a sample of 16,000 people aged 15 and over. The sample was selected by the Spanish National Statistics Institute and the Ministry is grateful for their collaboration. The survey has several objectives: firstly, evaluating the development of the main indicators for cultural habits and practices of the Spanish population over time; secondly, analysing relevant aspects in the field of culture, especially concerning the consumption of culture, and studying in depth the ways of obtaining specific cultural products subject to intellectual property rights, such as books, recorded music, video and software. Similarly to previous three-year editions of the survey, cultural participation has been investigated across different cultural activities: museums, art galleries, archives and monuments; reading of books and periodicals and visiting libraries; performing and musical arts: theatre, opera, operetta, ballet or dance and circus; classical music and contemporary music; the audio-visual and new technologies sector: cinema, video, television and radio, video games, as well as other activities related to culture and leisure. Activities vulnerable to the infringement of intellectual property rights have been investigated in the areas of books, music, video and software. The main classification characteristics used in the project are: sex, age, educational level and personal or professional status. The results were also presented according to the individual’s place of residence: the size of the municipality and the autonomous region. The Ministry of Culture and Sport appreciates the invaluable collaboration of the respondents and offers users the possible expansion of the information contained in the different instruments of dissemination, wherever allowed by the limitations of the survey derived from the sampling method. The methodological details related to the survey can be found at www.cultura.gob.es, along with the full results of the survey.
To interpret the results of the present edition of the survey correctly, it should be noted that most of the indicators are affected by the effects of the COVID-19 crisis during the reference period.
Main results: The effects of the COVID-19 on cultural habits should inevitably be highlighted, as well as the main differences observed in the results of 2021-2022 with respect to 2018-2019. With very few exceptions, such as reading on digital format or directly on the Internet, or playing videogames, the levels of cultural practices observed are much lower than those registered in previous editions of the survey, showing the strong impact of the COVID-19 crisis on cultural practices. In comparison to the previous edition of the survey (2018-2019), referred to a period in which cultural practices registered maximum levels almost in all categories. The annual rate of attendance at monuments or archaeological sites has decreased nearly down to half, standing at 28.2% (from 50.8%), similarly to museums, exhibitions and art
galleries, with an annual rate of attendance of 25.5% (from 46.7%). The results of the survey indicate that, in the period under analysis, the most frequent activities in annual terms were listening to music, watching videos of films or series and reading, with annual rates of 85.7%, 77.7% and 61.7%, respectively.
Museums, exhibitions, and art galleries: In the period under research, visits to museums, exhibitions and art galleries overall presented an annual rate of 25.5% (20.1% for museums, 14.5% for exhibitions and 6.9% for art galleries), whereas visits to monuments and archaeological sites reached 28.2%.
Museums: Overall, 25.5% of the population analysed visited a museum, exhibition or art gallery in the last year. 11.6% of the population researched visited a museum in the last quarter and 20.1% in the last year. Regarding the number of visits, those who visited a museum in the last quarter did it 2.1 times on average each. Attendance levels per quarter and per year were slightly higher for men, decrease significantly in the oldest groups of age and increase with the education level. The attendance in the last quarter reaches the maximum in Comunidad de Madrid, with 17.5%. Visitors were satisfied, with an average satisfaction index of 8.5 points. 93.7% of the people who visited a museum in the last year did it for leisure or entertainment,
whereas 6.3% reported the visit was motivated for professional or study reasons. 99.3% of those who went to a museum visited a permanent or temporary exhibition and 16.6% performed other activities (10.2% participated in educational activities; 4.5% attended courses, workshops or seminars; 6.3% watched conferences or audio-visual projections and 2.3% watched concerts and other performances). More than half of the visits to museums, 56.7%, took place during weekends or public holidays. 34.1% of those who visited museums in the last year did it in their own city, 27.2% in the remaining places of the autonomous region, 30.6% in the rest of Spain and 8.1% abroad. Whereas 47.8% visitors paid the standard entrance fee, 17% used a discounted fee or a season ticket and 35% entered for free. In the period under study, open days accounted for 1,6% of the total number of visitors. Among those who paid an entrance fee, 33.8% acquired it on the Internet, which exceeds in 17 percentage points the number registered in the previous edition. 92.2% visits, nearly the total, were made in company, 12.7% with their own children or other people’s, 73.5% with other relatives or friends, 3.2% with a school group and 2.8% with other organized groups. In the last year 7.4% of the population under study carried out virtual visits to museums using through the Internet, reaching the maximum value, 12.2% among those with university education. Among the reasons or obstacles that prevent people from going to museums or not going more often, those related to COVID-19 stand out in this edition of the survey, reaching 26.5%. They are followed at some distance by lack of time, 21.5%, lack of interest, 20.2%, low supply in the place of residence, 13.4%, or the entrance fee, 5%. In addition, the problems of physical accessibility to museums were also investigated and for 1.5% of the population researched there were obstacles to enter the facilities
Exhibitions: 8.2% of the population analysed visited an exhibition in the last quarter and 14.5% did it in the last year, nearly half of the percentage registered in the previous edition of the survey. Regarding the
frequency of attendance, those who visited an exhibition in the last quarter did it, on average, twice each. 91.4% of the people who visited an exhibition in the last year did it for leisure or entertainment, in comparison to the 8,6% who report the visit was motivated for professional or study reasons. More than half of the visits took place in weekends or public holidays, 53%.
Art Galleries: Attendance levels to art galleries are much lower than those observed for museums and exhibitions. 3.6% of the population under research visited an art gallery in the last quarter and 6.9% did it in the last year. 93.1% of the people who visited an art gallery in the last year did it for leisure or entertainment, in comparison to the 6.9% that declare the visit was motivated for professional or study reasons. 50.9% of the visits were during weekends or public holidays, while 49.1% took place in working days. Virtual visits through the Internet to exhibitions were analysed, 3.4%, and to art galleries, 2.3%. The satisfaction indices for visits to exhibitions and art galleries obtained confirm visitors are satisfied, scoring around 8 points
In relation to the art market, various issues related to the art market were studied. 1% of the population attended auctions or art fairs in the last year, 0.7% made a purchase and 0.4% were regarded as art collectors.
Results by sex, age and educational level. It should be remarked that the indicators show significant differences by sex. Women practice artistic activities more frequently, such as painting or drawing, and men present higher rates of attendance at museums, exhibitions and art galleries, monuments and archaeological sites. The youngest people present the highest rates of cultural participation, almost in all cultural areas: they visit more museums, monuments, etc; they attend more live performances or concerts,
they read more, go to libraries more often, purchase more; they do more active cultural practices. This high participation decreases with age, at a faster or slower pace but systematically. Undoubtedly education level is most determining in cultural participation, which increases systematically with it.
Interrelated indicators of cultural participation. The survey also provides indicators of cultural participation evaluated in groups of people in which certain cultural behaviour is observed, so that strong interrelations between them are brought to light. When focusing on the group of those who attended museums, galleries or exhibitions in the last year, a strong increase in reading, rates is observed, 82.2% compared to the 61.7% registered for the total population analysed. The rate of attendance at the theatre doubles for them, up to 18.2%, and those in the same group who went to the cinema reach 45.8%. Among those who read a book in the last year, the attendance rate at museums is 27.1%, at the theatre 11.3% and at contemporary music concerts 13.7%. The rate of attendance at museums is higher among the people who attended live performances, amounting to 45% in this group, as well as those for reading and annual attendance to cinema, that reach the maximum values with percentages of 84% and 51.7%, respectively. Focusing on those people who attended any type of concert in the last year, there is a high rate of readers, 81.5% in annual terms, as well as of attendance at the cinema, 49.8%, almost all of them listen to music at least one a month, 93.1%. Those who go to the cinema every year exceed in 13.6 percentage points the average rate of attendance at museums, in 16.2 the one of annual readers, and they present a rate of annual attendance at the theatre of 15.9%.
Details on the methodological aspects of this statistic, as well as the detailed results, are available on:
Survey of Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain in CULTURABase
Survey of Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain. Synthesis of results 2021-2022 (available in English)
Additional references in the website of the Ministry of Culture of Spain:
Yearbook of Culture Statistics
https://www.cultura.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano/estadisticas/cultura/mc/aec.html
Culture Statistics
https://www.cultura.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano/estadisticas.html