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Re-openings of Museums in Andalucia
Page updated 24-10-2022
All museums and attractions are now open as usual. However some smaller ones are still operating on reduced hours or requesting prior appointment. If critical to planing check the hours before hand. We are updating hours on this website as much as posible. Entrance fees have risen about 10% in many cases since re-opening. Masks must be worn in interiors. Measures such as 'one way routes' and separate entrance and exit doors, implementing to help social distancing often remain. Look out for marking on the floor.
The below is a record of what happened to the larger museums during the Coronavirus pandemic.
March 2020 to Summer 2021
Following the widespread closures for the State of Alert lockdown in March 2020 due to the Coronavirus most museums and attraction reopened in July 2020 during the "Plan for the Transition to a new Normality". This was over the summer with lesser visitor numbers and social distancing measures enforced and one way routes at congestion points.
It was actually a good summer to visit monuments such as the Alhambra without the crowds. Some smaller museums remained closed or reduced their hours due to staffing difficulties to create and monitor the social distancing measures.
In late October the Spanish government reintroduced the State of Alert and on the 10 November the Andalucia government closed the borders of all the municipalities for leisure travel. Since only local residents could now visit the monuments, some of the larger ones closed their doors again.
Major monuments and museums
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo (Sevilla)
The Centre for Andalucian Contemporary Art (CAAC) in Seville was the first of the Andalucia regional government-run museums to reopen its doors to the public during the state of alarm. Patricia del Pozo, Councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage, reopened the centre on 21 May. There are three temporary exhibitions, two of which had been inaugurated on 4 March and were open for only 10 days before the closure. Admission is free; note that the café, lockers, and food and drinks vending machines are closed, and that no printed materials are available.
Museo Picasso Malaga
This museum reopened on 26 May. Half-hourly entrance slots must be booked in advance, to ensure adequate distancing can be maintained inside the galleries.
Caminito del Rey footpath (Malaga)
The path closed again on 10th November. The path had reopened on 12 June at weekends only. Tickets were available online every day except Monday until the end of September. For latest updates see our Caminito del Rey page. The ticket-only price remains 10€ and the shuttle bus is 3.50€ The number of visitors a day was limited to 50% (550) of the normal daily capacity in June, and then stepped up in July and August to the normal 1.100 in September.
Alcázar Real de Sevilla
This magnificent royal palace reopened on 15 June, with specially adapted measures. Tickets are only be available online, and 250 visitors are allowed in every hour (down from the usual 750); for guided visits, groups must be 20 maximum to ensure adequate social distancing. Visitors' temperatures are taken on entering, and use of masks is obligatory.
Visitors must follow a marked one-way route, with staff monitoring the flow of people to ensure no room becomes overcrowded. Some areas only allow a limited number of people at one time, such as the Grutesco Gallery in the garden. Other rooms and area where space is too limited to accommodate visitors with adequate social distancing remain closed, including the Cuarto Real Alto, the upper area chambers which are the monarch's official residence in Seville; the Baños de Maria Padilla; and the Sala de la Justicia next to the Patio del Yeso. Visitors can move freely around the main garden, while the patios next to the palace have a more restricted route.
Italica (Seville)
The Roman archaeological site in the town of Santiponce, near Seville, opened on 16 June.
The Alhambraa (Granada)
Closed for the second time on 10th November 2020 and reopened on 1 December 2020
The Moorish palace closed first time on 13th March and reopened to visitors on 17 June at 50% capacity, or 4250 tickets per day. The December opening was limited to 65% this time but due to winter hours the number of tickets is the same at 4,200 In practice the visitor number were well below this. There were very few tour groups and most visitors were national or from the EU but not UK. Total entrances sold in 2020 up to end October was 755.800 being an average of 2.500 a day.
The Mezquita (Cordoba)
The 10th-century mosque-church is open at 50% capacity, for groups of 20 people maximum at a time. Tickets available online or on the door (free for residents of Cordoba province). Temporary opening hours are Monday to Saturday 10h-14h, 18h-21h, Sunday and holidays 16.00 to 21.00.
Seville Cathedral
One of the first monuments to close again. It closed for 'cultural visits' on 3 November, services continue. The largest Gothic cathedral in the world had reopened on 1 July, with guided tours only - "magna" (the main masterpieces) and the rooftop (with amazing views of the stained-glass windows, both inside and out), in two day and two night slots.