Why do we like to complain about the price of so many cards? Is it really expensive to go to the movies? Isn't it terrible to pay 40 euros for going to a concert? The 8 euros we pay for this inexcusable weekend gin-tonic? Why do all the arrows to the movies always?

Before, it was common for them to go to the crew, or alone. I believe that the whole problem is a matter of priorities. That is, changes in leisure habits. In my list of mental priorities, for example, cinema comes first. I am therefore prepared to allocate to that end a high percentage of the money that I waste in my spare time, excluding or reducing all other defects.

Factors directly affecting this price include the shameful rise in VAT and the investment of more than EUR 200 million in several rooms to move from analogue to digital. But there is another aspect that is rarely mentioned: the disappearance of small cinemas. The “boom” of the brick of the 1990s prompted the construction of large shopping malls. Of course, it included cinema theatres worth mentioning. This led to the disappearance of small cinemas from towns and cities. Inside these monsters some say that “everything can be done”, in addition to “without leaving” (uf! ). While they leave children in suffocating cages filled with colored pellets, they eat, drink, buy and, of course, when the day is about to end, go watch a movie. The problem? If we add money, popcorn, drink and the price of the tickets we have spent all day long, the panic we will feel when we come home will be enormous. “But where have I spent all that fortune?” The answer, a classic. The last film by the Pixar factory was, as it could not be otherwise, guilty. From there, everything is ready to pronounce any of the phrases mentioned at the beginning.

Related to this topic, this year we have also had the so-called “Film Festival” that is becoming tradition. For three days, several movie theaters significantly lower ticket prices. Big tails and a lot of people in the platoon that week, as if there was no future, with the goal of swallowing two or three movies. It is important to disseminate this “picture” of success in all media. Unfortunately, the only thing that this holiday has achieved has been to promote the debate on “whether tickets are expensive or not”. But are these actions really profitable? Why not keep these prices all year round? Because it's unthinkable that millions of viewers go every day. It's like a pintxo-pot or a sale. If there were discounts all year round, there would be no queues. On the other hand, this festival explains a very typical factor that flourishes in many festivals or cultural activities, the “postureo”. The theatres are filled these days with madness by seeing a Swedish film in its original language. For the rest of the days, the situation is reversed remarkably. It is therefore clear that there are fewer and fewer spectators. They blame the prices.

On the contrary, “the top”, to the famous piracy that I have not mentioned so far. In his view, this is the only stain to be destroyed, the illegal discharges. To try to understand this dispute, I will stand between the two. When we went to watch the film 8 Basque surnames on the platoon or when the new Star Wars film that comes to us this week to Euskal Herria resses all the figures, who remembers the prices? On the other hand, if piracy is to blame, why do the halls overflow in these concrete examples? Easy. In the rest of the cases, no real resources are provided. How can a film in the United States reach the Basque Country a year later? What will a fan of a particular film, actor or director do in this case? It has three options: to wait for that long and shameful interval of time – and also to see it folded; but we leave for another occasion – to buy online or download, of course, when it is published in DVD/Bluray format in the countries of origin.

After putting on the table all aspects of this issue, which is heavier than pil-pil, to finish, this is the situation. Until those who have the power to release this knot want to remedy, they have no choice but to content themselves with what we have. Therefore, the answer to the question of the title “Is it expensive to go to film?” is, of course, a round and giant “yes”. But like most other activities. I think that's where we have to be fair. Distribute the money for leisure according to preferences or, where appropriate, punches on all sides. In any case, if the cinema is so amateur and the only reason why it is not going is the price, it must be clear that there are also very interesting alternative circuits. In Donostia-San Sebastian, for example, I am led by the mythical cycle Nosferatu that has just taken Tabakalera. There are also cultural houses and cinefórums in other cities and towns, as well as films offered at universities.