At the Bescan municipal theater in northeastern Spain, director Quim Marc (center) and actresses Meritxell Yanes (left) and Elena Martinell ( appropriate ) show carrots for sale.
At the Bescan municipal theater in northeastern Spain, director Quim Marc (center) and actresses Meritxell Yanes (left) and Elena Martinell ( ideal ) show carrots for sale.
In Spain, new austerity measures mean larger revenue tax on almost everything from beer and wine to garments and film tickets. But in Bescan, a little town in the country's northeast, the regional theater director has come up with a rather imaginative way to get close to a new 21 percent tax on tickets for plays at his theater - by promoting carrots as a substitute.
When the Spanish government hiked income tax on theater tickets this past summer, Quim Marc imagined his theater was doomed. With a single in 4 local residents unemployed, Marc knew that even a modest hike in ticket charges might leave the 300-seat Bescan municipal theater empty.
"We explained, 'This is the end of our theater, and quite a few other folks.' But then the upcoming morning, I considered, we have received to do some thing, so that we don't pay out this 21 percent, and we shell out some thing far more fair," says Marc in Spanish.
He looked out his window at farmland that surrounds this village, two hours north of Barcelona, and quickly had an thought : As an alternative of promoting tickets to his displays, he'd market carrots.
"We market one particular carrot, which fees 13 euros [$16] - quite high-priced for a carrot. But then we give away admission to our reveals for absolutely free," he explains in Spanish. "So we finish up having to pay four % tax on the carrot, rather than 21 percent, which is the government's new tax price for theater tickets."
Classified as a staple, carrots are taxed at a much lower rate and have been spared new tax hikes that went into impact here on September one.
The highest value - additional tax fee on factors like cars and trucks and clothes went from 18 to 21 percent, in spite of a campaign promise by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy not to touch the best fee. Sales tax on movie and theater tickets jumped from eight to 21 percent.
Banners at the entrance to the village of Bescan announce the community theater's carrot- marketing campaign, with the slogan "For the Wellbeing of Culture," in Catalan language.
Banners at the entrance to the village of Bescan announce the regional theater's carrot- promoting campaign, with the slogan "For the Health of Culture," in Catalan language.
Such tax hikes have sent tens of thousands of Spaniards into the streets to protest every weekend given that the new charges took influence.
Pilar Bay, a civil servant in Bescan, traveled to Barcelona to consider aspect in the protests. She also bought a ticket - or instead, a carrot for a performance subsequent month. "It looks to me like a very good strategy, because culture shouldn't be taxed so significantly. Culture must be accessible to all the men and women," Bay says.
Spanish media have dubbed this the "Carrot Rebellion," and the Bescan theater has won kudos from arts advocates nationwide. Shows are offered out.
But the theater should also follow the law, says Fernando Fernandez, an economist at Madrid's IE Small business College.
"This is termed tax evasion," says Fernandez. "I suggest, we may possibly like it since it has to do with culture, and we like individuals going to the theater. But this is named tax evasion."
The Spanish government says tax hikes are required to keep away from an EU bailout. But Fernandez says that if some people never spend what they owe, people who do fork out will endure.
"This means that people today who do spend taxes have to spend a much larger tax. And this makes it more tricky to get the fiscal target," he says. "So we have to denounce this just as a lot as we denounce the filthy rich who never want to spend taxes. We really should do the very same."
Marc, the theater director, says he consulted a attorney prior to launching his carrot revenue. He's got backing from the regional mayor as well. And no one particular has stopped him so far.
Many Spaniards consider the Carrot Rebellion is fairly clever - an illustration of the imaginative lengths to which some people are prepared to go to keep away from new taxes some see as unfair. Marc acknowledges playing up the humor in all this.
" There's usually an announcement before the display commences, that says pictures are not permitted, and that you should turn off your cell phone. So now we're going to add, 'No chomping loudly on your carrots, through the show,'" jokes Marc.
He says he's a minor worried the government may well declare it illegal to promote carrots at theaters. But dozens of foods are considered "staples" and taxed at only four percent. So if that takes place, Marc says he might switch to promoting tomatoes rather.
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