CORDOBA – The covid-19 pandemic and associated mitigation measures have caused Cordoba’s mosque-cathedral to lose €9million in fiscal year 2020.
Significant drop in income
The most important monument in the city and one of the most important in Andalucia remained closed to the public for 108 days. This was during the lockdown from March 13 to May 24 and between November 11 and December 17. And the closed doors resulted in a significant drop in income.
In 2020, the Mezquita-Catedralde Cordoba received just over €4million in revenue. But in 2019 that figure was €17.5million. In 2020 the mosque received €3.4million from admission tickets sold. And the remaining income amounted to €362,488.
On the other side of the balance sheet is the €13.1million in expenditure. The highest cost was (€3.7million) in wages. And this was followed by maintenance and conservation of the famous monument (at just over €3.2million). Furthermore, €3million was spent on ‘charity work and international cooperation’.
The temple had a record year in 2019 showing a €2.5million profit. However, in 2020 it shows a loss of more than €9million.
According to the tourist information centre CAPT, the number of national tourists visiting Cordoba decreased by 57% in 2020. As a result, tourist expenditure decreased by €254million. These figures naturally resulted in a decrease in the number of visitors to the mosque-cathedral. In total, the monument was visited by 473,040 people. That is a decrease of over 77% compared to 2019.
Córdoba, city with the oldest culture in Europe
Córdoba is one of the oldest cities in Europe and already shone from before the year 1000. This was at a time when the rest of the world was still in darkness. The city is listed on the World Heritage List due to the special city wall, churches, stately houses. But especially because of the world famous and special Mezquita. This is a unique mosque in which a Catholic cathedral is pontifically built. In 1984, the Mezquita of Córdoba was placed on the Unesco World Heritage List.
The building can be traced back almost the entire Spanish history: from Moorish architecture to Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance architectural styles from the Christian period after the Reconquista.
