Spanish museums have made an effort to leave behind the great drop in visitors caused by the pandemic, the effects of which have been difficult for them to overcome. However, if 2023 left celebratory figures that made them see the light at the end of the tunnel, 2024 has served to certify that the pandemic is definitively overcome. The year has been one of growth except for the Guggenheim or the Thyssen. The Reina Sofía grows almost 10% in its main headquarters, but its general decline is due to the closures of two of its spaces, and museums such as the Prado or the Picasso in Barcelona celebrate historical data.
For the second consecutive year, the Prado Museum has been the most visited art gallery in Spain, as it celebrated with Ana Belén performing Spain, white shirt. It does so by surpassing the record achieved in 2023 and attracting more than 3.5 million visitors in 2024, figures that rise 5% compared to last year, giving the Prado the best year in its history, and confirming that the Most museums have not only left the pandemic completely behind, but they have done so stronger than ever.
He Reina Sofia Museum It receives 1,960,249 visitors under the new management of Manuel Segade, increasing visits to its main headquarters in Atocha by 9% compared to 2023, with 1,537,105 visitors. However, the institution drops in the general count due to the closure of two of its fundamental spaces. The Crystal Palace has been closed since April of last year for restoration works and the Velázquez Palace had to close its doors in September for the same reason, receiving 319,706 visitors (536,425 in 2023).
He Picasso Museum Barcelona also closes an extraordinary year with more than 1,300,000 visitors, a figure that had never been reached until now. It represents an increase of 8% compared to 2023 and exceeds the audience obtained in 2019, which had become its best year. The Catalan institution stands out Fernande Olivier, Pablo Picasso and their friends as its most visited exhibition.
It has also been a successful 2024 for the palaces, monasteries, museums and green spaces managed by National Heritage, which achieved the year with the highest number of visitors in their history with 7,169,027 visits. He Royal Palace of Madrid has received 1,563,869 visitors, while for the Gallery of the Royal Collections 648,209 people have visited, 45% from outside Spain, consolidating it as a cultural and tourist reference point in its year and a half of life.
The year has been equally positive for the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, which will add 1,301,343 visitors in 2024, only 2% less than last year, when it achieved the best figures since its inauguration. In addition, the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona achieved more than 470,000 visitors until December, 23% more than those who came to see the different exhibitions that the center hosted in 2023.
Complete recovery after the pandemic
He Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum It has received 951,821 visitors in 2024, a figure slightly lower than that registered in 2023, when it received 1,012,660 visitors, but well above the 600,000 people that were in 2021, with the pandemic still very recent. His most viewed exhibition has been The intimate realism of Isabel Quintanilla with 159,122 visitors.
He National Museum of Art of Catalonia exceeds 860,000 visitors in 2024 and grows 44% compared to the previous year, assuming a clear return to pre-pandemic levels, exceeding 2019 figures. The temporary exhibitions stand out Suzanne Valadon. A modern epic, with 80,730 visitors, and The lost mirror. Jews and converts in the Middle Agesorganized jointly with the Prado Museum, which received 101,296 visitors.
The sixteen State Museums dependent on the Ministry of Culture register 3,121,418 visits in 2024 and obtain the best data since 2000. This, in addition, is 10.53% more than in 2023, triggering that the State Museum with the most attendance has been the National Archaeological Museum with 627,334 visits, its best record in a decade.
He National Museum of Romanticism breaks its historical record with almost 200,000 visitors on the centenary of its foundation. Not so good news for him Sorolla Museum in Madrid, which with 247,775 visitors is far from the record data of 2023 (346,194), but manages to surpass those of 2022, when a total of 246,219 people came to the institution.
The CaixaForum centers spread throughout Spain and the CosmoCaixa Science Museum in Barcelona also celebrates its 4,455,555 visitors, increasing 2% compared to 2023. The CosmoCaixa Science Museum It is the center that has received the highest number of visits, with a total of 1,181,600, while the second most visited has been CaixaForum Madrid, receiving 947,642 people throughout the year 2024.
On the other hand, the Picasso Museum of Malaga It reaches the figure of 792,353 visitors during 2024, almost 13,000 more than in 2023. Its board places special emphasis on “the high participation in educational and cultural activities, with around 25,000 people who have attended the museum.”
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