Tonight, May 18th, from the stroke of 7pm until 1am, 52 Barcelona Museums will open to the public free of charge. Yeah, they’ll be a little crowded (especially Barcelona favorites like Gaudi’s La Pedrera, and the Picasso Museum), but the popular ones are crowded most of the time anyway (so you might as well go when you don’t have to pay).
Our personal favorites include Barcelona’s Chocolate Museum, and the Catalan Museum of Modernism (oh, the art). Not into art? No problem. There’s the Olympic and Sport Museum, for athletes and sports aficionados, and Barcelona Motorcycle Museum for bikers and cycle collectors.This yearly event is a rare treat for residents (free stuff in Barcelona!), and a lucky coincidence for this weekend’s tourists. So stroll among artifacts and masterworks by Miró and the like, and finish just in time for Barcelona’s prime-time Saturday night scene–Museums participating include:
Arts Santa Mónica, Arxiu Fotogràfic de Barcelona, CaixaForum, CCCB, Centre Cultural Metropolità Tecla Sala, CosmoCaixa, CX La Pedrera, DHUB Montcada, DHUB Museus Pedralbes, Espai Cultural Caja Madrid, Espai Mercè Sala, Fundació Antoni Tápies, Fundació Arranz- Bravo, Fundació Foto Colectania, Fundació Francisco Godia, Fundació Joan Miró, Fundació Suñol, Fundació Vila Casas, La Capella, MACBA, MNAC, MUHBA Domus Romana MUHBA EL Call, MUHBA Monestir de Pedralbes, MUHBA Plaça del Rei, MUHBA Temple d’August, MUHBA Via Sepulcral Romana, Museu Agbar de les Aigües and more
Additionally, Museu Barbier, Museu Can Tinturé, Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya, Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Museu d;Idees i Invents de Barcelona, Museu de Badalona, Museu de Cerámica, Museu de Cerámica “La Rajoleta”, Museu de Ciéncies Naturals de Barcelona, Museu Blau, Museu de l’Hospitalet, Museu de la Música de Barcelona, Museu de la Xocolata, Museu Egipci de Barcelona, Museu Frederic Marés, Museu Etnológic de Barcelona, Museu Maritin de Barcelona, Museu Olimpic i de l’Esport, Museu Picasso, Teatre Museu el Rei de la Magia, and Virreina Centre de la Imatge (downstairs is where they keep els gigants, giant figures they use in Barcelona’s parades).
If you missed this year’s Nit dels Museus and can’t wait ’til next Spring, see “The Barcelona Art Pass” post to get one of Barcelona’s best deals on visiting multiple art museums.
Chris Ciolli is a Barcelona-based writer, translator and artist with Midwestern roots. She shares her escapades as a Missourian in the world at Midwesternerabroad.com, and writes about Barcelona from a guiri-gone-native perspective at Barcelonaforidiots.com. A closet foodie and self-proclaimed art addict, Chris typically blogs about the drinks, eats and other cultural attractions she encounters on her travels. In her spare moments, she reads obsessively, slurps excessive quantities of coffee and tea, and plays with art supplies and kitchen tools. Oh, and travels as much as humanly possible.
