Ministry of Public Works announces funding to finance Spanish Historical Heritage conservation projects under the 1.5% Cultural Programme

Following publication in the Official State Gazette (Spanish acronym: BOE), the Ministry of Public Works announced, on Wednesday, 19 July, a call for funding applications for Spanish Historical Heritage asset conservation or enrichment projects under the '1.5% Cultural' Programme.

Article 68.1 of Law 16/1985, of 25 June, on Spanish Historical Heritage, and Royal Decree 111/1986, of 10 January, state that the budget for each public works project financed in whole or in part by the State will include an amount of no less than 1% of the funds contributed by the State to the financing of Spanish Historical Heritage conservation or enrichment projects, or the promotion of artistic creativity.

Since October 2013, this percentage has increased in terms of funds coming from the Ministry of Public Works to 1.5% of said contributions.

A 7th Partnership Agreement was signed on 7 June 2017 for joint action in this regard between the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.

Call for applications

The selection and prioritisation criteria applied to projects requesting financing from these funds are defined in Order FOM/1932/2014, which approves the regulatory bases for the concession of funding for Spanish Historical Heritage conservation or enrichment actions drawn against resources coming from the public works financed by the Ministry of Public Works and the dependent or associated public sector entities.

This call for proposals, issued according to these regulatory bases, will represent a maximum contribution by the Ministry of Public Works of 50,520,823.21 euros.

The purpose of this funding is to support, through co-financing with the owner, the recovery or enrichment of assets declared as Heritage of Cultural Interest (Spanish acronym: BIC) that are publicly owned and for public use or for private not-for-profit use but given public use status. At any event, those real estate assets forming part of the UNESCO World Heritage network may also apply.

Presentation of applications

Applications must be presented within 20 working days of publication of the announcement and must meet the requirements of the documentation listed in the regulatory bases.

Pursuant to Articles 14 and 16 of Law 39/2015, of 31 October, said applications must, as a general rule, be presented via the e-registry of the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Works.