Iñaki Lazkano, responsible for the cultural programming of Lazarraga, in an interview given to Berria, talked about the municipal decision with journalist Irati Egibar Izeta.

Last week it was known that the Local Government Board of Vitoria-Gasteiz asked the association to reimburse €112,817. The Financial Controller, at his disposal, only indicates the amount of the refund, and until the official notification he will not know the reasons for the request. Lazkano, after receiving the news, says that they are surprised and concerned: “They started the whole procedure without telling us anything: they took him directly to the local government board, approved him there and made the official request. The City Hall already knew what the financial controller’s report said before, and they told us nothing.”

The Lazarraga association proposed the return of EUR 52,000 in the subsidies of 2023, as the theatre has not opened its doors and has not been able to fulfill the planned schedule: “If all activities are carried out normally, all the money is spent. That happens to any association, but in our case we could not get the program through, because the building was not prepared.” The financial controller requests that the association be returned more than twice the amount proposed.

Lazkano, despite having the theatres closed at his doors, has reported the work necessary to start the project: “A great job must be done to set up a cultural center of this kind, and these works have been done. From the point of view of communication, a website has been developed, a communication plan and the communication of the cultural activities to be carried out; from the point of view of management, a comprehensive management system of the building and culture project has been designed; and from the point of view of programming, a programming has been carried out in collaboration with different agents from Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Basque Country”.

Lazarraga partnership project “about to die”

Lazkano clearly informs Berria that the association will not be able to cope with this request for money and clarifies that the responsibility is of the municipality: “The problem is not created by us, it was created by the City Hall of Vitoria. The responsibility for the lack of openness of the cultural space lies with the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz”. The City of Vitoria-Gasteiz faces monetary issues “or gives a solution to that debt or demand. If it does not provide a solution, surely the Lazarraga cultural association cannot continue with the project. Clearly. The project will be left without promoter: more than innocuous, dying”.

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. Lazkano states in the interview that the building is not technically equipped, there is no audiovisual equipment, there is no lighting on the stage and the rooms are empty. Lazkano reports that the City Council has not obtained certain permits.