More than 1.3 million (1,312,688.36 euros specifically) has been the public money allocated by the Junta de Andalucía to the celebration of the last five editions (between 2020 and 2024) of the 28F Gala of the Day of Andalusia, intended mainly for the delivery of the Favorite Sons and Medals of Andalusia distinctions at the Maestranza Theater in Seville. This amount of money spent during the years in which the PP led the Board of Directors multiplies by four the figure that the previous executive had allocated to the same objective: 324,736.59 euros between the years 2015 and 2019, when the PSOE was still in charge. the autonomous government. Furthermore, this total amount over five years is lower than the amount of expenses related to the gala evening organized on February 28, 2024, which amounted to 335,728.03 euros (excluding VAT).
The years and expenses of the 28F before the arrival of Moreno and the PP in the Council are as follows: 2015 (48,152.41 euros), 2016 (69,195.94 euros), 2017 (57,702.74 euros), 2018 (80,467.64 euros) and 2019 (69,217.86 euros). The inauguration of Moreno’s first government took place on January 18, 2019, just one month after this gala. It was from 2020 that expenses tripled, from one year to the next.
From February 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic that paralyzed Spain, expenses increased by the following amounts: 2020 (226,295.09 euros), 2021 (188,926.43 euros), 2022 (284,383.46 euros), 2023 (277,355.35 euros) and 2024 (335,728.03 euros), the last gala organized, by far the most expensive, far from the less than 50,000 euros spent in 2015 for example. All these figures were provided to elDiario.es Andalucía by the Vice-Ministry of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, which considered that the data requested through this means from the Transparency Portal should be considered “public information”, with a “clear public interest”.
Almost 2,000 euros per minute
The awards ceremony at the Maestranza has gone from being a more institutional and formal event to a more spectacular one in recent years, with musical performances, among other new features. In fact, the last gala was longer than the previous ones (2h50′), which means that there was an expense of 1,975 euros per minute at the expense of public coffers.
Hosted by the model and presenter Eva González (who has been mistress of ceremonies since February 28, 2020), the institutional event on the occasion of the Day of Andalusia, which serves to recognize the people and entities that contribute to the advancement of the autonomous community from culture, sport, the business world or solidarity action, had more grandeur, with a sound and light show and several musical performances that brightened the awards ceremony and the speeches of some of its protagonists.
The ceremony was chaired by Juan Manuel Moreno, President of the Council, and by the President of the Regional Parliament, Jesús Aguirre, in charge of presenting the awards. Moreno, as has been the custom since he became President of the Council in 2019, gave a speech almost at the end of the gala in which he called for the defense of equality among Spaniards and defended his pacts with the Sánchez government: “I will stand I agree with the one I have to carry.
Music and entertainment
Music in 2024 played a leading role during almost three hours of ceremony. The opening was performed by the singer and saetero Manuel Cuevas. Then, a strong start of the scene with the Cornet and Drum Band Nuestra Señora del Rosario Coronada de Cádiz and the processional march. Eternityby Sergio Larrinaga, soundtrack of the Tourism campaign Andalusian favorite. During the gala there was also a show called The dream of Andalusiawith music composed by Francisco Cuadrado and performed by the voice of Samara Valera, the violin of Ángeles Vázquez and the dance of On Dance Studios. The presenter Eva González, in another novelty, had a few minutes of conversation with an artificial intelligence during the ceremony. Influencers Juan Amodeo, Fabiana Sevillano and Spoke Sponha broadcast the gala on social networks.
Several winners came from the world of music and this led them to add their voices to the event. Thus, the Favorite Son José Mercé sang soleá, the group Danza Invisible (Andalusian Medal of the Arts) performed their song the taste of loveJarcha (Manuel Clavero Arévalo Medal) recreated the sounds of the Transition with Freedom without anger and the singer Pablo López (Andalusian Medal of the Andalusian Projection) closed the event with the Andalusian anthem on the piano.
Without precise definition in the budgets
The Council has carried out “a complex and laborious task” by having collected from the different competent bodies and entities the amount of expenses associated with a total of ten galas, between the years 2015 and 2024, unifying the resolutions analyzed. The Vice-Ministry of the Presidency also points out that in the Budget of the Government of Andalusia there is no specific item reserved for this type of expenditure. In the decree of July 7, 2020, which establishes the codes and definitions of the economic nomenclatures of the income and expenditure statements of the budget of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, there is no specific concept or definition.
The Vice-Ministry of the Presidency explains that all the data were extracted from the Integral System of Management of Organizational Resources of the Administration of the Government of Andalusia and its instrumental entities (GIRO), which came into force on January 1, 2015. This newspaper had also requested the expenses corresponding to the 2014 annuity, but “the Jupiter system was operational as IT support for the treasury functions” and “information extractions are only possible through printed reports”, so “it does not allow data extraction”. This allows the same to be obtained in a truthful, exact and certain manner.
However, the Vice-Ministry of the Presidency facilitates the expenses corresponding to the agreement of February 13, 2014, concluded between the Ministry of the Presidency and the Teatro de la Maestranza y Salas del Arenal, SA for the celebration of the institutional event, which is 21,637.64 euros (excluding VAT).
