Covid-19 emergency in Madrid also causes all museums to close. It is the first time since the civil war

Prado Museum, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Reina Sofía Museum, Archaeological Museum, Sorolla Museum, Filmoteca Española and many others: in Madrid, the Covid-19 coronavirus emergency is causing museums to close, starting today. This was decided by Spain’s Ministry of Culture, which closed the doors of all museums under its management “in order to guarantee the health of visitors,” as it explains in a note. This is the first time since the Civil War in the 1930s that an emergency in Spain has caused museums to close. The closure, at the moment, is indefinite and only affects museums located in Madrid: in Spain, the capital is the city with the highest number of Covid-19 cases (a third of all those counted in the country so far). The measure has also been taken up by museums that are part of Patrimonio Nacional, such as the Royal Palace or the Escorial Monastery.

But in the Spanish capital it is not only museums that are closing: doors are also barred to theaters and concert halls. The measures now affect much of the country, however (Catalonia, for example, has decided to ban all events with more than a thousand people, and in recent days even the Biblioteca Nacional had announced, for today, the suspension of activities to the public). Spotty suspended activities in several other Spanish cities as well. Schools closed in Madrid and in the regions of Euskadi (Basque Country), Catalonia, Galicia and Murcia. At the moment, however, there is a lack of a central and nationwide measure (like the one in Italy), in a country that now has nearly 3,000 contagious cases, but where the government says it is ready to deal with any situation and even to establish red zones if it becomes necessary (although, to date, the tendency is to rather close certain areas but avoid using drastic measures as is happening in Italy).

Pictured: the Prado Museum. Ph. Credit Emilio Rodríguez Posada

Covid-19 emergency in Madrid also causes all museums to close. It is the first time since the civil war

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