Trained as a philologist, Paz Santa Cecilia based in Madrid, born in 1961, is a cultural manager with extensive experience in the performing arts. He has deep knowledge of INAEM, where he served as general coordinator from 2009 to 2012. His work also connects him to structures and natural areas, including the National Center for New Performance Trends, the Seville Central Theater, the Andalusian Theater Center, and the Monastery Theater. In Madrid, he has held roles as a production director or assistant director.
Santa Cecilia has overseen a variety of festivals, including Madrid’s Contemporary Stage, the VEO Festival in Valencia, and IDEM International Festival of Performing Arts and Social Participation at La Casa Encendida. He has advised in the public activities department and produced artists such as Ribot. He directed the MIT workshop on wheels and led a research project on contemporary performing arts in Spain. He has been involved in projects like the 1992 Universal Exhibition in Seville, Salamanca 2002, and the Venice Theater Biennale. Most recently, he has worked as a performing arts consultant and has contributed to programs for the internationalization of Spanish culture and Spanish cultural action.
INAEM reform and other priorities
The new INAEM director will need to decide quickly whether to launch new public tenders or to expand the positions of four unit artistic directors—Alfredo Sanzol, Lluís Homar, Ruben Olmo, and Joaquín de Luz. The five-year term for these leaders ends in September, with Sanzol’s term ending in January 2025. They were elected in 2019. The leadership under discussion has faced criticism from feminist associations and cultural sector groups for the absence of a female leader among the units. Santa Cecilia, connected to contemporary dance, will have to decide whether to reintroduce the old project without funding, as a priority for the National Center for Dance Propagation announced previously.
Reform has long been a priority for INAEM, affecting all its units including the National Auditorium of Music, the National Ballet of Spain, the National Dance Company, the National Dramatic Center, Zarzuela Theater, the National Classical Theater Company, the National Center for Musical Propagation, the National Youth Orchestra of Spain, and the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir. This reform has appeared on legislative agendas for years without moving forward. The then minister Carmen Calvo promised in 2005 a thorough review of INAEM’s administrative procedures and mechanisms, which were sometimes out of step with modern artistic management. More recently, Yolanda Díaz highlighted INAEM reform as a ministry priority during the appointment debates for Pedro Sánchez, and Ernest Urtasun described the reform as an urgent need.
Between 2005 and 2024, many managers have passed through INAEM, with work groups promoted, and proposals to merge Zarzuela with Real Madrid paused. Some suggested granting Zarzuela its own law or turning it into a state institution or foundation, a move viewed by unions as a potential privatization effort. The path for a new legal and administrative structure for INAEM will hinge on Paz Santa Cecilia’s ability to negotiate with workers, unions, and other ministries, to streamline procedures for subsidies and contracts, and to adapt to the needs of units, exhibition spaces, and production centers that struggle to stage shows. Units that depend on Treasury intervention can take months to pay vendors and lack resources to generate independent income or attract sponsorship and patronage.