Postcard from... Madrid

Even recessions have their positive side, it seems, and one bonus for fans of rock group Bon Jovi is that the American band have waived their fee for a concert in Madrid this summer.

Tickets of between €18 (£15) and €39 – apparently a fraction of the usual price – quickly sold out when they went on sale in March for the event at the Vicente Calderón football stadium.

There were fears many Spanish fans would not be able to afford tickets.

The band’s leader, Jon Bon Jovi, said that when the band were planning this summer’s European tour, the capital city had originally been left-off the list of venues over fears that the event might not sell out because of Spain’s economic crisis.

But not wanting to let fans down, they decided they would perform in Madrid on 27 June for free.

The band, promoting their latest LP, What About Now, have promised they will put on a spectacular show.

Bon Jovi’s generosity has highlighted the increasingly devastated condition of Spain’s live music industry, hit by a perfect storm of 57 per cent youth unemployment and a hike to 21 per cent VAT on concerts and other cultural activities, one of the highest levels in Europe.

Last year, 20 per cent of Spanish music promoters were reported to have closed their doors, while the total income from live concerts shrank by 28.92 per cent in the last third of 2012 to €65.2m. Bon Jovi’s concert, sadly, is the exception to the rule.