Renewal of full management contract for Teatros del Canal and Teatro Auditorio San Lorenzo de El Escorial
January 2015. Clece recently renewed its contract to manage and operate the Teatros del Canal and the Teatro Auditorio San Lorenzo de El Escorial, in the Region of Madrid. The contract was renewed in January 2015, after six years of management, with audience numbers of more than 1,200,000, and 700 shows. Awarded for two years, the contract is extendable for two more periods of the same length, up to a total of six years.
The comprehensive management of these two cultural spaces includes the following services: comprehensive maintenance of facilities and performance equipment; services, supplies and technical assistance for performance-related and other activities; ticket sales, marketing and communication; box-office services, access control, front-of-house services and public announcements; catering services; and cleaning, security and surveillance services in each theatre.
Teatros del Canal: more audience, more commitment, more quality
Since the Teatros del Canal opened in February 2009, 580 different productions have been staged here, with average attendance figures of 72 per cent. The varied programme has attracted more then 1,100,00 people to the theatre to enjoy more than 2,700 performances. In turn, another managed venue, the Canal Dance Centre (CDC), the region’s main centre for choreography, has created more than 120 projects.
It has also been used by a long list of businesses. Among other events, it has hosted the Goya Awards nominees ceremony, the Coca-Cola Happiness Conference, the Real Madrid Alma Foundation Gala Awards, and various professional gatherings for the Excellence in Management Club, the Enterprise Institute, Wolters Kluwer and Garrigues.
At the social level, the management model is aimed at securing a social return on cultural activity. The aim is to help ensure access for all citizens, by means of a wide variety of offers at affordable prices, paying particular attention to certain social groups, such as people over the age of 65, young people or the unemployed. Among other initiatives, at various times of the year activities are organised that are completely free of charge, such as musical marathons, band concerts and open-door events. Since the theatre’s beginnings, it has run an educational programme aimed at students, which welcomes 20,000 schoolchildren a year. Under the banner of More than Culture, in collaboration with the Region of Madrid Youth Orchestra and Choir and the SaludArte Foundation, the Canal supports a range of social projects aimed at people with disabilities or at risk of social exclusion. Teatro Accesible is also involved in the project, staging specially adapted public shows.
In 2012 the Teatros del Canal was the first theatre in Spain to be awarded full double certification in quality and environmental management, securing UNE EN ISO 9001 certification in quality management, and ISO 14001 certification in environmental management.
Teatro Auditorio San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a home for festivals
In terms of both technology and architecture, the Teatro Auditorio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial is one of the most sophisticated performance spaces in Spain. It has a built surface area of more than 25 thousand square metres on a total of ten floors, eight of which are below ground level, which means only a fifth of the building’s volume is actually above ground. The theatre is home to three annual festivals held over the Easter, Christmas and summer periods. All three are music-oriented, with a varied programme that includes opera, zarzuela, concertos and chamber music, as well as dance performances and shows for children.