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INPRIMATU
13% of bookstores are closed in Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa if they are not supported by the Basque Government
  • The editors of Basque culture have complained that the Basque Government has not announced economic aid to the industry. They have also indicated that up to 95% of the bookshop workers in the Basque Autonomous Community are in ERTE and that if the subsidies to the promoters do not go to the industry they will not.
Maria Ortega Zubiate @ortegazubiate 2020ko apirilaren 17a
Liburu denda bateko argazkia. Argazkia: Público.

“Once again they have forgotten us,” said José Manuel Díaz, director of the Basque Editors’ Guild. The Councilors of Employment and Social Policies and Culture and Linguistic Policy of the Basque Government have been "indignant" for not having announced aids for the publishing and publishing industry.

He has also defended aid to body builders, as “they allow authors and creators who do not have income to survive at the stop”. But he says that they have forgotten the measures that protect the industry, and that if they do not protect the industry, the authors will not be able to create or disseminate that work.

13% of the CAV bookstores plan to close their doors to the public and, if no action is taken, that figure will grow. Thus, Joxean Muñoz, Vice-Minister for Culture of the Basque Government, has announced that they have proposed measures to strengthen the Basque cultural sector. On the one hand, it is proposed to inject money into the sector, through aid, credits and incentives.

On the other hand, they have asked the Basque Government to encourage the consumption of bookshops, to encourage the purchase of public libraries with aid of EUR 2.5 million and to distribute bonuses to the general public to promote consumption. The Basque Government is calling for a budget of EUR 1 million for these bonds, according to the data provided.

The Department of Education has also asked for help in the editing of books in Basque, as many bookstores need to sell textbooks in order to maintain the business.

The Basque Government does not have many answers at the moment.

The only answer given by the Basque Government has been to increase the budget for books purchased by Basque public libraries by 14 per cent. As for the other measures, as well as those requested from the education department, no reply has yet been received.