Spain’s Most Essential Museums

In honor to the International Museum Day that is celebrated every May 18th, today we invite you to visit some of the must see museums in Spain and enjoy this video of the 200 anniversary of the Prado Museum

https://youtu.be/h_sq0H1OTeg

Spain´s museums are home to some of the greatest collections in the world, and are chance to enjoy some of the great geniuses and masterpieces of universal painting. Starting with the Prado and moving on to the Guggenheim Bilbao, here we present the museums you can’t afford to miss if you’re coming to Spain.

Madrid’s golden trio

In the Spanish capital, the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofía National Museum offer an opportunity to explore the history of universal painting through the works of the great masters. Located very close to one another in the very heart of the city, these three galleries comprise a truly unique cultural itinerary: the ‘Paseo del Arte’ (Art Walk) in Madrid.

Your visit should, of course, start with the Prado Museum. This is one of the world’s finest art galleries, and its rooms are home to the best of the Spanish, Italian and Flemish schools, among other collections. Take your time, because here you’ll find some of the most important works by remarkable artists such as Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Hieronymus Bosch, Titian, Tintoretto, Raphael, Rubens and Rembrandt. Next, head for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Its collection includes works from early 13th-century painting through to German Expressionism, with examples of Impressionism, the English School and the European and American avant-garde, with valuable pieces by their greatest exponents: Dürer, Van Dyck, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Kandinsky…

The Reina Sofía National Art Centre –recently extended and now among Europe’s largest galleries– still awaits. Here you’ll find Picasso’s universal work Guernica, along with an outstanding collection of contemporary Spanish art including pieces by Miró, Dalí, Chillida and Tàpies.

The genius of Picasso and Dalí

The work of these two Spanish artists revolutionized 20th-century art. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona will allow you to examine the work of this Cubist master in depth and follow his evolution. The pieces on display cover his formative years, the different stages of his artistic production, and his work as an engraver and ceramicist. Science and Charity, Harlequin and the Maids of Honor series are some of the emblematic canvasses by Pablo Picasso on display at the museum. If you want to enjoy the surrealist world of Salvador Dalí, then make for the http://www.salvador-dali.org/es_index/Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, in the province of Girona. Situated 139 kilometers from the city of Barcelona, a visit to the museum takes the form of a game as you try to make out the hidden images to be found within the creations on display.

Tribute to contemporary art

A trip to the famous Guggenheim Bilbao Museum is worthwhile just to see the building designed by prestigious architect Frank Gehry. This museum in northern Spain has a wide range of avant-garde and contemporary art in its permanent collection. It features outstanding international artists, and a stunning presentation of the works which is designed to harmonize with the museum building itself. If you like modern art and are on the Mediterranean coast, then be sure to visit the IVAM Museum in Valencia: its exhibition program tends to focus on the classical avant-garde movements developed up to the 1960s.And in inland Spain, specifically in the city of León, we recommend paying a visit to the Castile-León Museum of Contemporary Art (MUSAC), whose program and its over 1,600 works pursue the relationship between art and social, political, cultural and aesthetic situations.

The important role played by these places within the Spanish museum panorama is clear, and this can be seen by their attendance figures. However, you’ll find an extremely broad offer, and not only for lovers of fine art. There are also museums on science, archaeology, maritime themes…

In the meantime, please stay home, be safe, and protect you and those around you.

The Tourist office of Spain team: http://www.spain.info/en_US/

The Spanish Government has adopted a comprehensive package of measures to create an economic and social shield to help alleviate the consequences of this crisis and to prevent a temporary, short-term problem from becoming a structural or solvency problem for our companies. For this reason, among other things, 400 million euros have been made available in soft loans to companies in the tourism sector; a first tranche of bank guarantees has been released for a sum up to 20 bn €; the Social Security subsidy for fixed-discontinuous (permanent workers laid off)  has been extended to the months of February to June; and a moratorium has been established for six months on the Social Security contribution (payments) for the self-employed and companies.

Spain has been at the forefront in adopting measures, some of them very strict, while at the same time strengthening its health sector with greater economic resources and personnel in order to assist all those affected by the COVID-19. All cases are important; no one will be abandoned because of age, health status or social condition. The Spanish Ministry of Health has made a special effort to provide means of protection for health professionals, for which it has acquired a large amount of materials and, with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, has redirected manufacturing industry and others that produce other types of consumer goods, such as alcohol, to the production of materials for the health sector.