In its fifth edition, the cultural voucher initiative, promoted by the Ministry of Culture, has been requested by 57,728 young people in the Community of Madrid who will celebrate their 18th birthday in 2025. This figure accounts for 72% of the total number of young people in this age group, which stands at 80,555 according to data from the National Institute of Statistics.
Nationwide, the cultural voucher has been applied for by 374,131 young people turning 18 in 2026, which represents two out of three individuals born in 2008, specifically 66.6% of the estimated population of that age, totalling 561,459 individuals. This marks an increase of 10,946 from the previous edition, which had 363,054 beneficiaries. With the figures recorded in 2026, the total number of young beneficiaries of the programme across its five editions will exceed 1.67 million.
Once registered and signed, each application undergoes a thorough review and is subject to the individualised subsidy control process of the General State Administration, meaning the final number of beneficiaries may vary. The public company Correos, responsible for the banking support of the cultural voucher, has already begun sending out both virtual and physical cards to the eligible young people.
Upon receiving the aid, beneficiaries have one year to spend the €400 on cultural products or services at participating establishments, of which there are 4,217 across Spain.
About the cultural voucher
The cultural voucher operates with a prepaid card that beneficiaries can access virtually on their mobile devices or receive physically at home. The 2026 cultural voucher offers two options:
- Option 1: The €400 can be distributed among the following areas: live arts and audiovisuals, cultural heritage, artistic creation media and materials (up to €200); physical cultural products (up to €100); and digital or online consumption (up to €100).
- Option 2: The total amount can be allocated to a single category of choice, including cultural courses and workshops (both in-person and online), musical instruments, or artistic creation media and materials.
The Ministry of Culture aims to achieve two objectives with this initiative: firstly, to demonstrate the interest of a broad spectrum of young Spaniards in culture, fostering their future engagement as cultural consumers; and secondly, to provide additional support to the cultural sector.
The cultural voucher is regulated by a Royal Decree, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on 21 March 2023 at the proposal of the Minister of Culture, and has an indefinite duration with a budget of €170 million in the extended General State Budgets. In its first year of implementation in 2022, a total of 277,607 individuals across Spain received the cultural voucher. This number increased to 323,668 in 2023, 334,435 in 2024, and 363,054 in 2025. Over the four years since its inception, the total number of young beneficiaries has reached 1,298,764.
