Art galleries, which usually open from Monday to Saturday free of charge, will be closed from today until Saturday, February 7. What has happened? With the entry into force of European Union Directive 2022/542, which allows countries to reduce VAT on the sale of works of art, antiques, and collectibles, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Portugal have already adopted reduced rates (5.5%, 5%, 7%, 8%, and 6%, respectively), while in Spain it remains at 21%.
Despite the sector's recurrent attempts to demand a reduction in cultural VAT, the Government has not commented on the matter nor proposed any solution. From the Consortium of Contemporary Art Galleries, to which nearly 120 galleries belong, they have seen no other option than to carry out a forceful action: the temporary closure of galleries to make this situation visible.
"We ask that the regulations be applied so that we can do our work on equal terms and be competitive," comments Marc Domènech, director of the Marc Domènech gallery in Barcelona and a member of the Consortium. "We are closing as a pressure measure, we need to do it because we want to continue working and do it from Spain."
These differences can be clearly seen at the ARCO fair, where last year an attempt was already made to make a statement: all Spanish galleries present turned off their lights for ten minutes to denounce the structural disadvantage compared to their European counterparts. For example, a work by Juan Uslé, represented in Spain by the Prats Nogueras Blanchard and Galería Elvira González galleries, is more expensive to acquire here than if purchased at Galerie Lelong, based in Paris, where a VAT of 5.5% is applied.
Spanish fairs are also enormously affected, a situation that will worsen even more if the cultural VAT is not reduced. As Quico Peinado, president of the ArtBarcelona association and member of the Consortium, explains, "galleries can avail themselves of the tax regime of the country where the fair is held, so they will surely be more interested in participating in ARCO Lisboa, given that Portugal applies a reduced VAT of 6%, to the detriment of ARCO Madrid, where 21% is applied." The Ministry of Culture and the institutions that acquire works at the fair, such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, also suffer the impact, as they can buy fewer works if these are taxed with 21% VAT instead of a reduced rate.
Furthermore, "the first to be harmed are Spanish artists, who are much more expensive than their French or Italian equivalents. This situation causes a lethal loss of competitiveness for the artists we represent," says Domènech. More than a thousand artists and professionals in the sector have signed the manifesto "Visual Artists Spain sign ¡Cultural VAT NOW!", in which the essential role of galleries in the discovery, accompaniment, and construction of their professional careers is vindicated.
An art gallery is not just an establishment for buying and selling works. It is a key agent in the cultural sector: it guides artists' careers, promotes their international projection, and generates cultural programming open to the public, among many other things. For example, Oriol Vilanova, who will represent Spain at the next Venice Biennale, has been able to develop his international career thanks to the strategic support of his gallery, àngels barcelona. This continuous work also translates into a cultural offer open to the public: only the galleries associated with ArtBarcelona organize more than 220 free exhibitions per year.
Galleries also actively collaborate with institutions through loaning works, and the Consortium has announced that they will maintain a three-month strike in their relations with the administration.
Everything indicates, therefore, that maintaining the cultural VAT at 21% means a loss for the entire artistic ecosystem and the citizenry. Why is a reduced cultural VAT not applied? Perhaps the key lies in how art is perceived in Spain and in an endemic problem that associates it with luxury, without recognizing the fundamental work performed by galleries in the construction and transmission of cultural heritage.
Is the existence and work of art galleries taken for granted? If nothing changes, "the only option we have is not simple or economical, nor is it what we want: it is to leave the country," says Marc Domènech.