Museums and exhibitions in Catalonia receive more than 21 million visitors in 2010

Barcelona (ACN).- 21,750,000 people visited the Catalan museums, exhibitions and collections in 2010. Coinciding with the Museum’s International Day, the Catalan Ministry of Culture released last year’s visitor data. 10,600,000 people visited museums across Catalonia, while more than 11 million visited art collections such as the Sagrada Familia’s Basilica and its Museum. However, the difference between a museum and a collection seems quite unclear in some cases, as in the Sagrada Familia’s. Actually, the Sagrada Família is the most visited cultural site of its kind, with more than 2.3 million visitors. Regarding traditional types of museums in Catalonia, the most visited were in this order: the Picasso Museum in Barcelona (1,344,897 people) and the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres (1,311,638 visitors). Third on the list is FC Barcelona’s Museum, followed by the Joan Miró Foundation (also in Barcelona). In 2010 there were a total of 566 temporary exhibitions, with more than 2.5 million visitors. The 2,600 scheduled activities were attended by 1.5 million people.

In Barcelona, after the Picasso Museum, FC Barcelona’s Museum and the Joan Miró Foundation, other museums with a great number of visitors were Barcelona’s History Museum and Barcelona’s Maritime Museum. The Museum of Archaeology and Catalonia’s History Museum are not on top of the list. However, La Caixa’s museums ranked high on the list: the science museum CosmoCaixa and the temporary exhibition centre CaixaForum received a combined figure of almost 3 million visitors.

Outside Barcelona, the most visited museum is by far Salvador Dalí’s Theatre Museum in the city of Figueres. In fact, the numbers are even higher combining its sister museums in Portlligat (Cadaqués), Salvador Dalí’s House, and in Púbol, the Gala-Salvador Dalí Castle. Combined they brought together more than 1,330,000 people. Other museums with a significant number of visitors in Girona were: the Treasure of Girona’s Cathedral (with more than 225,000 people), Figueres’ Toy Museum (with more than 60,000 visitors).

In Tarragona, the National Archaeological Museum, with its three centres in Tarragona city, Constantí and Altafulla, and which shows the old Tarraco’s Roman monuments and art, received more than 113,000 visitors. Tarragona’s Diocesan Museum followed with 83,000 people in 2010. The Rural Life Museum in l’Espluga de Francolí received 36,000 visitors.

Lleida’s Diocesan and County Museum leads the ranking in Western Catalonia, with 31,000 visitors. Another museum funded by a religious organisation is the Montserrat Museum, in the architectural complex of the famous Monastery of Montserrat, in the mountains with the same name, in central Catalonia. This Museum, which also has non-religious art, received more than 110,000 people in 2010.