Going to the theater, cinema, concerts and other shows for free is possible for young people in Madrid thanks to JOBO, the young cultural voucher created by the Madrid City Council. Until now, it covered 16 to 26 years old, but the consistory will extend the age range up to 30.
The delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Marta Rivera de la Cruz announced the measure on Tuesday, during the commission of her area held in the Plaza de la Villa. She stated that it would come into force during this legislature, which means that it will be implemented before June 2027.
The extension of the youth cultural voucher until the age of 30 has generated debate in the committee session. It has raised the difficulty of reaching young people and doubt about its effectiveness, as a high number of the tickets requested never get used.
7 cultural spaces from Monday to Friday
EL JOBO offers free tickets at several municipal cultural spaces: the Nave 10 Matadero, the Centro Danza Matadero, the Teatro Español, the Fernán Gómez, the Centro Cultural de la Villa, the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Conde Duque, the Teatro Circo Price and the Cineteca.
All seven are managed by Madrid Destino and reserve a percentage of up to 25% of their tickets for JOBO. From Monday to Friday, young people can attend one session per show free of charge. Tickets can be reserved ten days before the performance, either at the box office or on the Madrid Destino website.
8000 empty seats
Getting tickets for a JOBO show is free and the City Council is conducting an analysis to assess its impact and effectiveness. According to data from the Culture area, 34% of the JOBO tickets requested between 2024 and 2025 were not used, which means an increase in absenteeism.
“That’s 8,000 empty seats, 8,000 seats that could have been occupied by those who really wanted to go. It involves a significant expense, but above all it is unsupportive and unfair to the rest of the spectators,” lamented the delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, during the commission.
In view of this situation, the delegate also informed that they are assessing the option of sanctioning those who misuse the JOBO. Their challenge is to find a balance so that the system does not generate rejection and avoid absenteeism.
Reaching out to young people
During the City Council session, the PSOE stressed that the JOBO program “languishes” because it “fails to attract young people.” Socialist councilman Jorge Donaire explained that in the October 2024 plenary session they had proposed changes to relaunch JOBO, extending it up to the age of 30, with weekends included and an agile and intuitive mobile application.
From the opposition, they consider that the management of the program has been a failure. “In seven years it has not reached even 8% of the beneficiaries,” stressed Jorge Donaire. According to this mayor, the municipal government has not been able to reach young people or understand their consumption habits.
In response, the delegate Marta Rivera de la Cruz defended that they were very involved in the cultural activity of the city and that this did not depend solely on JOBO.