- The Lazarraga Cultural Association has received from the City Hall the agreement to justify the grant of 2023 for the amount of EUR 112,000. The Association points out that the “lack of municipal will” has called into question the project of the Gasteiz Theater and that the City Hall must solve the “problem raised by the City Hall”.
The Association received an official provision and confirmed what was communicated to the Lazarraga association a few weeks earlier: it will have to repay EUR 112,817.10 for the grants received under the Gasteiz Antzokia project. In the justification presented by the Association, the return of 50,487,48 euros not spent in the elaboration of the project is proposed to the City Hall. The Association has stated by press release that this communication does not question the invoices and receipts presented by the Association in the justification of the grant, that is, the expenses and expenses incurred by the Association in 2023 are accepted.
The Association stresses that the decision of the City Hall will have a double detriment, on the one hand, because there is a quantity of money that has not been received for the management of the Cultural Center, and on the other, because to this must be added what has requested the return. The association explains that the lack of openness of the cultural space has had serious consequences. Thus, the partnership has not had access to the expected revenue. It relates 31,776,00 euros for sales and entry tickets; 6,000 euros for space and bar transfers; 41,500,00 euros for sponsors and other agreements. The Association claims to have lost a total of EUR 79,276,00.
The Association considers that the project does not have “too much output” because Lazarraga cannot return the “money he does not have”, that is, “money spent with the knowledge and authorization of the City Hall”. The Lazarraga cultural association has requested a bilateral relationship that seeks alternatives in collaboration.
A path full of obstacles
Until June 2022, the Lazarraga association managed the Basque cultural offer in Oihaneder Euskararen Etxea. By August of the same year the works of the Vitoria Theatre were completed and the doors opened in early 2023. The Lazarraga association began to manage the building and organize cultural programming. However, the building is not ready, several obstacles have appeared along the way.