The Community of Madrid will ask that the VAT on sport be lowered to 10%

The vice president, Minister of Sports, Transparency and spokesman for the Government of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio Aguado, has announced its intention to ask the Minister of Culture and Sports for a VAT reduction - from 21% to 10% - for all physical and sports activity linked to health.

In his opinion, “sport is health and helps to combat obesity ”, and therefore it is necessary to“ promote it and support the companies that promote it".

This announcement has been made by Aguado after meeting with the main representatives of the fitness sector and gyms in the Community of Madrid, with the aim of addressing the situation of these sports facilities in the face of the crisis caused by the coronavirus.

"Sport is a fundamental asset for the Community of Madrid"

At the meeting, the Vice President was accompanied by the Minister of Economy, Employment and Competitiveness, Manuel Giménez, and the Vice Minister of Sports, Roberto Núñez,

The regional vice president has highlighted that Madrid's gyms have adapted "in an exemplary way" to the reality determined by COVID-19, "to guarantee the safety and protection of workers and users".

 "Gyms are doing a tremendous job to stay open, transforming and proving that they are safe placess ”, he added.

Therefore, Aguado has ratified the commitment of the regional Executive with the practice of physical activity and the sector of gyms and fitness facilities.

"Sport is a fundamental asset for the Community of Madrid and one of the best tools against the coronavirus as a generator of employment and wealth and as a healthy routine in our day to day”, He emphasized.

Sport as an ally against sedentary lifestyle and COVID-19

The meeting was attended by the president of the Madrid Association of Sports Service Entrepreneurs (ASOMED), Adolfo Ruiz Valdivieso; the founding partner and executive president of the Ingesport Group and patron of the Fundación España Activa, Gabriel Sáez Irigoyen; the CEO of Smarfir, Ignacio Usera; and the founding partner and CEO of BeOne, Roberto Ramos Piñeiro.

Aguado has described the sport as “one of the main allies against COVID-19”, And has insisted on the need to link "sport, health and economy" to "continue building a healthy society and improve our physical and psychological situation" at a time marked by the health crisis.

More than 500.000 athletes with a federative license can move freely around the Community

Finally, the Madrid vice president stressed that the region "has not stopped in sports." "Madrid has not been closed to sports, we have continued to be active, moving", he pointed out, and in this sense he recalled that more than 500.000 athletes with a federative license can move freely around the Community to continue competing and practicing sports.