Spanish PM offers €2 cinema tickets for over-65s ahead of regional elections

Pedro Sanchez announces subsidy as his Socialist party lags behind conservative opposition in polls

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has announced a new scheme that will allow over-65s to go to the cinema every Tuesday for just 2 (1.76) two weeks before the country heads to the polls for crucial regional and municipal elections.

The subsidy, announced during a campaign event in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, comes a year after Sanchez's minority coalition government introduced a youth culture voucher scheme that gives Spaniards turning 18 400 to spend on books, records, digital subscriptions, festivals, concerts, plays, exhibitions and films.