Spanish Ministry of Culture to open museums on June 9

MADRID -- The Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport confirmed on its official website on Thursday that the museums and art galleries under its jurisdiction will be open to the public from June 9 as another sign of the progress Spain is making in halting the spread of the coronavirus.

Entry to these galleries and museums will be free of charge for individuals or family groups until July 31, although group visits will not be permitted until the end of the process of easing restrictions.

The ministry explains that all of the temporary exhibitions that had to be closed due to the lockdown imposed on Spain on March 15, will be extended.

Museums will also introduce special routes to ensure that social distancing measures can be observed.

Among the museums and art galleries affected by this measure are the national Archeological Museum, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, the Sorolla Museum and Museum of the Americas in Madrid, the Museum of Roman Art in Merida, southeast Spain, and the Museums of Altamira in Santillana del Mar in northern Spain and the House of Cervantes in Valladolid.

Cultural activities are slowly returning to Spain after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, with the three most famous art galleries in Madrid -- the Prado National Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, which make up the "golden mile" of art in the Spanish capital, all due to reopen on June 6, while the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in northern Spain reopened on June 1 with a limit of 400 visitors at any one time.