Part of the culture still resists reaching the capital. Madrid is one of the cities that still intends to host a branch of the great Hermitage Museum from St. Petersburg. Since Barcelona presented some reluctance and hindered the project, the Madrid City Council wanted to stand as a candidate in what some considered an offensive against the mayor Ada Colau. However, although there is already an elaborated project, as sources of the Consistory of the capital assure, its lack of agreement could move the Hermitage to another capital: Lisbon.
There are those who affirm that the Madrid City Council’s offensive to “steal” Hermitage from Barcelona was wet powder. A cry to heaven that I was just looking to make noise, but that he had no serious and elaborate project behind. But the truth is that the capital already has an elaborated project, the problem is the lack of consensus and that not everyone within the Town Hall is convinced that it is the right one to bring this branch. AND that’s where Lisbon comes in (capital of Portugal), another city that has become a clear candidate to host the Hermitage.
The project to which the Barcelona City Council has put obstacles of all colors supposes the rejection for the city of Barcelona of about 50 million euros, since this will not cost money to the public coffers. In a context in which tourism will be resentfully exaggerated by the coronavirus crisis, Colau’s decision has not appealed to many within the Catalan Consistory.
The building that has been designed is by the architect Toyo Ito and it was intended to build on the grounds of the Port of Barcelona. Two years ago, the Barcelona City Council approved a plan for redevelopment of the area in which the Museum was included. However, in a matter of months they have changed their minds and are still looking for reasons not to build it, alleging mobility issues or the excess tourism that the museum could bring.
The Madrid alternative is not wet gunpowder. There is a definite project but I do not agree. However, the coronavirus crisis may become an impulse to tie the loose fringes of the Madrid City Council’s plan to bring the Hermitage to the capital. A source of income and an element that will help revive tourism. So it would only be missing that Andrea Levy, the Councilor for Culture, Tourism and Sports of Madrid
The Museum has the support of the hotel and tourist guilds and the cultural and educational environment of the city. And this statement serves both Barcelona, Madrid and the capital of Portugal. Now, with the pandemic, the project has stopped, like everything. But from the Madrid City Council they trust that the plan will be resumed soon.
If Madrid rests on its laurels, as has been the case in Barcelona, Lisbon would be the main candidate city to host the Hermitage branch. In their favor they have that this would be in Lisbon the first great international museum of the city. In addition, the obstacles that cities such as Barcelona or Madrid have placed may not occur in the Portuguese city.
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