The Hermitage will not have its branch in Barcelona. The promoters will give up on the project

Contrary to what was planned, theHermitage in St. Petersburg will not have its branch in Barcelona. Designed by internationally renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito, who was awarded the Prizker Prize in 2013, the multi-level white building of more than 13,000 square meters was supposed to be built in the Port of Barcelona area by 2024, but according to El Pais and local newspapers, the promoters of the Museu Ermitage Barcelona have announced that they will abandon the project. Themunicipality’s opposition to the space has caused the Museu Hermitage Barcelona, 80% controlled by the Swiss-Luxembourg investment fund Varia and the remaining 20% by the Cultural Development Barcelona fund, to paralyze the fixed expenses incurred to realize the initiative. Now all resources are focused on the judicial process against the municipal government: in fact, the company has asked the court to annul the decision to prevent the facility’s construction permit.

The land on which the Catalan branch of the Hermitage was to be built belongs to thePort Authority of Barcelona, which on May 26, 2021, authorized its construction on condition that the agreement would be signed. Two days later, the municipal government decided not to draw up a joint project. The municipality opposes the construction because it doubts its financial feasibility and because of mobility problems, since it could attract many foreign visitors to an area that is already under heavy tourist pressure. It was expected to cost 52 million euros to build the Spanish Hermitage, between construction costs, materials costs and the cost of the museographic project. Opposition from the municipality was the reason the promoters decided to give up, although a judicial process is still open through which the company hopes to recover the money invested and an additional amount that could reach more than 100 million euros. According to the promoters, the court process can be extended up to eight years, but they do not believe it is feasible to keep the project alive until then.

Pictured is the Hermitage project in Barcelona designed by Toyo Ito

The Hermitage will not have its branch in Barcelona. The promoters will give up on the project

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