The Spanish government announced on Friday that it will lower the sales tax affecting acquisition of artwork from 21 percent to 10 percent.

The measure was announced at the press conference held after the Cabinet meeting, in which Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria explained that sales of art objects and other collectors' items would pay a tax of 10 percent as opposed to the previous 21 percent.

Saenz de Santamaria said that the measure aims to support the authors of these works, including painting, sculpture, art galleries, art dealers, antique dealers, collectors and the world of plastic arts in general.

Saenz de Santamaria stated that now Spain's tax was equitable with those of other European countries, such as 7 percent in Germany, 10 percent in Italy and France or 6 percent in Belgium.

The Deputy Prime Minister also explained that the government was working on a tax reform to boost the Spanish cultural sector through tax incentives and reported that the Spanish Minister of Finance Cristobal Montoro was meeting with the industry to examine the issue.

The cultural sector in Spain was very unhappy because of the sales tax increase implemented in 2012. The film industry strongly criticized the measure as the number of people going to the cinema sharply fell and forced the industry to close many cinemas and launch some offers to recover spectators.

The president of the Confederation of Spanish Audiovisual Producers ( FAPAE ) said that he hoped this measure will be implemented in other sectors such as music, theater and film industry.