The increase in funding for Évora 2027, the European Capital of Culture, was announced by Culture Minister Dalila Rodrigues during a press briefing following her visit to the Convent of Saudação, located in the Montemor-o-Novo Castle in the Alentejo district.
In a request for the Cultural sector’s reprogramming of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) submitted by the government to the European Commission earlier this year, an additional 27 million euros has been allocated to Cultural Heritage, according to the Ministry of Culture’s February announcements.
The minister indicated that a portion of this allocation will be used for the rehabilitation of the Mosteiro de São Bento de Cástris on the outskirts of the city, which is set to become the future headquarters of the management association for Évora 2027.
“The annexes adjacent to the inhabited areas need rehabilitation and reprogramming,” she stated, highlighting that the intervention will transform this building into a “new center for artistic and cultural activities.”
Dalila Rodrigues further mentioned that Évora 2027 would receive funding from other governmental areas beyond culture without specifying the amounts.
When questioned by journalists about alleged delays in the initiative’s preparation, the minister explained that she inherited these setbacks from her predecessor, Pedro Adão e Silva, emphasizing “everything has been done to recover.”
“And I don’t think anything is compromised,” she continued, pledging that Évora 2027 “will be a great European Capital of Culture.”
The minister noted that the selection processes for the artistic and executive director positions would conclude in the coming days, emphasizing that the appointed directors “will assume their roles shortly.”
The president of the managing association for Évora 2027, Maria do Céu Ramos, “is in full agreement with me so that we can present some fundamental projects soon, primarily for Évora and the community targeted by the project, but also for the country and internationally,” added Rodrigues.
The Évora 2027 Association initiated two international competitions in January for the artistic and executive director roles, with application deadlines closing on February 16.
The competition jurors, as per the respective regulations, have until mid-April this year to determine the winning candidates.
This additional 25 million euros from the PRR reprogramming supplements the initial Évora 2027 budget of 49 million euros, bringing the total to 74 million euros.
The initial funding includes 15 million from the State Budget, 10 million from European funds, four million from tourism contributions, five million for surrounding territories, and 15 million from the city council and partners.
Regarding the PRR, the reprogramming’s additional 27 million euros intended for Culture raises the total investment to 346 million euros, compared to the 319 million resulting from the reprogramming approved at the end of 2023.
This enhancement focuses solely on the cultural heritage sector, increasing it to 243.2 million euros, complemented by a 400,000-euro reduction in the digital transition component to 102.39 million euros, justified by “constraints related to competitive bidding processes,” as noted by Minister Dalila Rodrigues’ office in February.
This “ambitious enhancement of 27 million euros” in Cultural Heritage, according to the Ministry of Culture’s plans, aims to include “nine cultural spaces in the milestone concerning ‘rehabilitation and conservation of buildings categorized as cultural heritage and national theaters’.”
