Barcelona museums and galleries welcome over 2 million visitors in 2021

Last year, Barcelona's cultural sector was able to partially recover from a dreary, Covid-impacted 2020.

In 2021, Barcelona's museums and galleries welcomed over 2 million visitors, twice as many as the year prior. The figure released by the Barcelona Culture Institute (ICUB) on Friday, however, is still far from the almost 4 million visitors seen in 2019.

The Picasso Museum's 'Picasso and the artist's jewelry' – which, given its popularity, was extended until January 9, 2022 – was the most visited exhibition in the Catalan capital last year, attracting a total of 237,942 people. 

'BCN 1965-1975. A view through artificial intelligence', 'Under the light of the sea', and 'The coastline of Barcelona', all at Montjuïc Castle, were the second, third, and fourth most visited exhibitions. 

The Born Cultural and Memorial Centre, which welcomed 424,500 people, was the most visited venue in 2021, followed by Montjuïc Castle (385,100 visitors), the History Museum of Barcelona (334,200 visitors), and the Picasso Museum (305,600 visitors). 

In terms of specific cultural activities, the Night of Museums attracted the greatest number of people, 30,230, but fell short of pre-Covid figures. The Barcelona Dibuixa illustration festival also saw a significant amount of visitors, 4,901, as did the In-Museu event in June.