According to the decree signed by the mayor of Barakaldo, Amaia del Campo (PNV), the City Hall will allocate 220,000 public euros to meet the expenses of the MTV EMA event organized by the private network MTV. So far the Barakaldo Municipal Government has not provided any explanation for these costs. Even though EH Bildu has asked twice. In March, Del Campo responded to the Abertzale coalition: “Today, spending is zero.” At the plenary session on 27 September, Del Campo used the same words in order not to give figures on yesterday’s attack.

Barakaldo’s Irabazi group has also been critical of this use of public money: “The City Hall will spend twice as much money on the festivities of the neighborhoods to MTV.” In 2018, the City Hall of Barakaldo granted the festivities of the neighborhoods around 100,000 euros, 8,500 euros to each of the 12 neighborhoods. “This decision is a sign of the PNV’s priorities: supporting acts to quench the ego of the oligarchy rather than popular festivities,” said coalition spokeswoman Eder Álvarez.

On 29 October, activities organized in the framework of the “MTV Week” will begin before the awards ceremony. The City Hall of Barakaldo has reported that the Herriko Plaza will be closed on the occasion of one of the MTV concerts. “It’s an unprecedented security measure in the village,” said Del Campo.

EUR 3 million in public

To the money provided by the City Council of Barakaldo it should be added that the City Council of Bilbao and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia agreed to a contribution of three million to MTV in exchange for “promoting the image of Bilbao and Bizkaia throughout the world”. The Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, and the Deputy General of Bizkaia, Unai Rementeria, have stated that “it is a prize for being as we are and for being what we are [that MTV has chosen Bilbao]”.

The agreement signed with MTV states that the public institutions of Bizkaia will also offer free of charge the space for MTV to perform the show. Thus, the US multinational will take advantage of two rooms of 15,000 square meters of the BEC of Barakaldo (Bizkaia) and the central space of the Arena. According to the newspaper El Correo, although the exact price of the use of these rooms is unknown, it could be around 250,000 euros, and it is likely that most of the aid of 220,000 euros from the City of Barakaldo falls on the rental of BEC.