Season opens a month late with Faust as slashed state subsidies and sponsorship bring a bad deal for Catalan culture
Spain's economic crisis has forced Barcelona's Liceu opera house to delay the start of its 2011-12 season by a month and could lead to temporary layoffs.
The Liceu said cuts in subsidies by the Spanish culture ministry and the regional government of Catalonia have reduced its 2011-12 budget to ?48.4m (�41m), down by ?10m from two years ago.
The theatre said it would start next season with Charles Gounod's Faust on 7 October, instead of in September.
Isabel Santana, its spokeswoman, said the Liceu was in talks with its choir and orchestra in a bid to avoid laying off staff and would have to raise ticket prices for its more popular shows.
The Liceu, which opened in 1847, will stage 119 shows in 2011-12, five fewer than the current season. It employs 395 people, down from 441 last year.
"We are entering a new era in terms of financing, given that, as of now, money generated by the theatre outweighs public subsidies," said the manager, Ana Serrano.
Next season, public subsidies will represent 48% of the Liceu's income, down from 52 %.
The culture department is implementing a gradual 30% cut in theatre subsidies while the Catalan government announced a 15% cut earlier this year. The Liceu said sponsorship had also dipped.
Madrid's Teatro Real opera house has been affected too, but has been cushioned from the impact by raising ticket prices and increasing sponsorship.
Spain is struggling to emerge from nearly two years of recession that has left it with an unemployment rate of 20%, the highest in the eurozone, and a bloated deficit.
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