By Matthew Roscoe • Published: 25 Nov 2021 • 12:02
Spain to force Netflix to offer content in regional languages. Credit: Photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash
THE Spanish government has announced that they will force streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO and Disney + to have at least 6 per cent of their content in some of the country’s regional languages – Catalan, Basque and Galician.
According to a new audiovisual law set to be passed by the Spanish government, these platforms will also be taxed 5 per cent on audiovisual production to fund productions in Spain’s regional languages (co-official languages).
Catalonia’s separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) made the announcement on Tuesday, November 23 in an agreement with the Spanish government for the 2022 budget. According to the Independent, the deal was made in exchange for ERC’s critical support for the leftist coalition government’s budget bill.
In total, around 1,500 new and old series and films on Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+, Filmin, AtresPlayer and other platforms will have an option to have the audio in Catalan, Basque or Galician, according to Reuters.
Spain has four co-official languages: Catalan (grouped together Valencian and Balearic), Galician (Galego), Basque (also known as Euskera) and Occitan/Aranese, by far the least spoken of all.
The Government is working on an “audiovisual hub” to turn Spain into a great European base for international productions and will invest around several million into the project.
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Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
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