A year without record increases in museums: visits to the Picasso and Carmen Thyssen stabilize

The figures are not negligible, but this has not been a year of record increases at the main museums in Málaga. After several years of consecutive rises surpassing pre-pandemic levels, the art galleries in Málaga are showing signs of stabilization in visits to their collections. The Picasso Museum Málaga and the Carmen Thyssen Museum continued the tradition of ending the year with a report that shows numbers very similar to those of 2024. With data still provisional, pending the final closure of the counts, the gallery of the Malaga-born genius almost reached 800,000 entries for the second year, with just 13 more people than in 2024; while the museum of the baroness again surpasses 202,000, but with a drop of just over 700 visits compared to the previous year (a difference that may decrease when the final count is available).

Both occupy a place on the podium of the most visited museums in the province each year - even in Andalusia in the case of Picasso - an honor they share with the Málaga Museum, which has not yet released its data. Thus, the Picasso Museum Málaga closes 2025 with 792,366 visitors, virtually the same result as twelve months earlier: 792,353. "This result confirms the maturity of the cultural project, which maintains a stable influx in a context of great cultural and tourist competition," the museum assesses in a press release. According to them, the figure "demonstrates the loyalty of the public and the sustained interest in Picasso's work and the museum's exhibition proposals."

For the artistic director of the Museum, Miguel López-Remiro, "nearly reaching 800,000 visitors for the second consecutive year, along with high participation in educational and cultural activities, confirms the solidity and trajectory of the Picasso Museum Málaga project."

Programming

The year at the Palacio de Buenavista began and ended with two Picasso-themed exhibitions from different starting points: 'Picasso: the Royan notebooks' and 'Picasso Memory and Desire'. In the chapter on contemporary artists, the museum hosted as a guest work William Kentridge's installation 'More Sweetly Play the Dance' and the exhibition 'Genius Loci', by Belgian painter Farah Atassi. Returning to the 20th century, the retrospective of Óscar Domínguez delved into the surrealist work of the Canarian artist. An exhibition program that also includes a new venture outside its headquarters, with 'Picasso x Barceló' at the Museum of Almería.

The Carmen Thyssen Museum remains at the 202,000 mark, with a total of 202,715 people at the close of the press release. In 2024 there were 203,471. In addition to having one of the most outstanding collections of 19th and 20th century Spanish painting, eight temporary exhibitions have served as a draw for the public.

The year started with three of them already underway: 'Nudes. Normative and insurgent bodies in Spanish art (1870-1970)', 'Imogen Cunningham. Essences' and 'Sorolla in Andalusia'. Throughout 2025, two more were inaugurated: 'Liberated Painting. Young Spanish Figuration of the 80s' and 'Telluric and Primitive. From the Vallecas School to Miquel Barceló', which can still be visited until next March 1. And in the Noble Room, reserved for artistic delicacies and great masters, this exercise has seen works from Zurbarán to Rembrandt (until January 18).