The Best Museums in Spain

Madrid

Three of the six Spanish museums are in Madrid. The Prado shows Velázquez, Goya, Bosch, Rubens and Titian and does not allow photography in the galleries; entry is free in the evening hours. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza nearby holds Baron Thyssen's collection of Western painting from the 13th to the 20th century, hung in order from the top floor down. The Museo Arqueológico Nacional follows the Iberian Peninsula from prehistory to the 19th century and keeps the Lady of Elche.

Mérida, Valladolid, Barcelona

The Museo Nacional de Arte Romano in Mérida shows the sculpture and mosaics of the Roman city in a nave of brick arches by Rafael Moneo. The Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid holds Spanish polychrome wood sculpture in the College of San Gregorio. CosmoCaixa in Barcelona is a science museum with an Amazon rainforest of 1,000 square metres indoors.