The Government has ordered this Tuesday the suspension of all collective activities in closed spaces of more than a thousand people and in leisure and culture events with an influx of less than a thousand people, its capacity will be reduced to a third of it, to prevent that there is an overcrowding in these closed spaces. It’s about measures, said the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, only applicable in the Community of Madrid, Vitoria and Labastida in the province of Álava, and La Rioja, the three areas of significant transmission and which will begin to be applied this Wednesday. The measures, announced without giving more details, have generated a certain “bewilderment”, as admitted by different sources from the theater and cinema.
THEATER
It is the main affected. In Madrid alone, there are more than ten theaters with a capacity of a thousand people or more, and many of them are the musical theaters of Madrid’s Gran Vía: Coliseum (1,400 spectators), Lope de Vega (1400). The two have suspended the functions of Anastasia and of The Lion King. Both theaters are managed by the production company Stage, which made the decision to apply immediately a few minutes ago. The producer explains in a statement that in the next 48 hours it will inform viewers that it has purchased its tickets from the channels of return or relocation at shows after March 25. The musical Ghost, which is currently at the Gran Vía Theater in Madrid, is also postponed.
Also from the Nuevo Alcalá theater (1240), Calderón Theater (around 1000), Rialto Theater (1020) and the EDP Gran Vía Theater (around 1000). In addition, to these theaters are added the National Auditorium, which is part of the network of theaters managed by the National Institute of Performing Arts (Inaem), with 2,300 seats, in addition to the Teatro de la Zarzuela, with 1,242 seats. The Monumental Theater, with 1,200 seats, and the Royal Theater, with 1,700 seats, would also be subject to the application of this measure of suspension of its activity.
The rest of the private theaters in the capital of Spain will open with capacity limitations. The Pavón Theater Kamikaze, which this Thursday premieres its latest show, Treason, it will maintain the planned functions but it will reduce its capacity to a third, going from 600 seats to 200. The theater is proposing to the public who had bought tickets the postponement or the refund of the amount. Others like the Teatro del Barrio have already announced its closure.
The National Institute of Performing Arts (Inaem), under the Ministry of Culture, has canceled all the functions of its theaters in the next two weeks, so the María Guerrero, Valle Inclán, Zarzuela or the National Auditorium will remain closed . For his part, the City of Madrid communicated late Tuesday on closure of all theaters managed by the consistory, among them the Spanish Theater, the Fernán Gómez or the Naves del Español-Matadero. For its part, the Madrid’s community also announced the postponement of the festival Theatrical and the 33% reduction in capacity of its theaters (Teatros del Canal, Royal Coliseum Carlos III; Auditorium of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Theater of La Abadía and corral de Comedias de Alcalá de Henares)
For their part, the majority reaction among managers of private theaters is puzzled because they say they have no information about how and when to execute these measures. Since Som Produce, the second largest producer of musicals in Spain, describe the situation of the sector as “catastrophic zone” and they will wait for the publication this Wednesday of the decree with the measures to adopt a decision.
Throughout this Wednesday, meetings are being held in the Royal Theatre or in the Association of Theater Producers of Madrid, which groups 24 private theaters in the capital. In Barcelona, it has been the Liceu that has canceled, after the measures adopted by Quim Torrà, president of the Generalitat, the international premiere of Lonhengrin Warger, scheduled for March 19. They hope that the last programmed functions, until April 5, if they can be carried out until the March 26 quarantine is over.
MUSEUMS
In statements to the press last Tuesday, the Health Minister specified that the measures only affect “static” shows, so they are not binding on museums. In such a way that both shopping centers and museums will be open. However, the Museum of Prado has decided to limit the capacity to the rooms with the highest number of visitors such as Las Meninas, Goya and El Bosco. Reduce to 500 the number of visitors who can enter two hours a day for free. The Reina Sofía will open, but with restrictions. Capacity is limited to the rooms with the greatest influx: in which is the Guernica or in which there are works by Dalí.
Both institutions have confirmed a drop in the number of their visitors during the first week of March. The Prado has suffered a 30 percent drop in the number of visitors in this last week. The Reina Sofía, where from March 1 to 9 has reduced the presence of visitors up to fifty percent daily. They have gone from having 6,000 visitors to 3,000 a day. They attribute it to the coronavirus crisis, since they have had to cancel dozens of group visits, mainly from Italian, French and German tourists, who are the nationalities that most visit the gallery.
As more immediate measures, Reina Sofía has established teleworking among its employees. All workers with children under the age of 14 stay at home. All visits by school groups in Madrid have been canceled. For its part, the Thyssen Museum does not provide data on the number of visitors and refers to the Ministry of Health.
MUSIC
There are several important quotes in the Wizink Center, in Madrid, in the coming days. The old Sports Palace assures that it is offering alternative dates to the promoters, but that they will be the ones to announce cancellations and / or delays. March 21 Amaral He was planning to give a concert there, the organizers have decided to postpone it to September 19. The tickets will be the same as for the month of March.
Although Barcelona is excluded from these measures, as it is not a contagion risk area, the Primavera Sound -main music festival in our country- they work normally. “In coordination with the local health authorities, we are closely following the evolution of events to guarantee the safety of our public and of all the people involved in the celebration of the festival. About the” and sis “, we do not talk about possible speculation. This is what we can tell you until today. “
MOVIES
Movie theaters will also be affected by this measure, especially those with more than 1,000 spectators. For its part, the cinemas Renoir Madrid are still open this Tuesday and are still waiting to know how they reduce capacity in the coming days. Both the room Kinépolis, As the Capitol Cinema, located on Madrid’s Gran Vía, would be affected by exceeding the capacity of more than 1,000 seats. The association of distributors studies how this measure will affect the sector, waiting to know in writing the decree detailing these measures.
The main affected indirectly is the Malaga Film Festival, which has decided to suspend the event that began this Friday. Despite not being in an affected area, the city council says they prefer to postpone the event: “Although the health authorities they do not expressly prevent keeping it, their recommendation not to travel makes it difficult for the appointment to proceed normally, “he pointed out.
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