A famous museum in Europe announces that it does not want “any more visitors”. “Success can destroy us”

The Prado cannot be like the “metro at rush hour,” says the director of the Madrid museum, quoted by The Guardian.

The director of the Prado museum has said the Madrid art institution does not need “any more visitors” after a record 3.5 million visitors last year, adding that plans are being drawn up to ensure it does not become a victim of its own success like the Louvre in Paris.

In 2025, the Prado, home to masterpieces such as Las Meninas by Velázquez and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, was visited by 3,513,402 people, an increase of more than 56,000 from the previous year. The number of visitors has increased by more than 816,000 in the last decade.

While some museum directors would celebrate such a success, Prado director Miguel Falomir treats it with caution. “The Prado doesn't need any more visitors,” he told a press conference on Wednesday. “We feel comfortable with 3.5 million. The success of a museum can destroy it, as happened with the Louvre, where some rooms became oversaturated. The important thing is not to collapse.”

Falomir said 65 percent of last year's visitors were from abroad and he would like to see more Spaniards taking advantage of one of the country's greatest cultural treasures. Plans to improve the quality of visits include optimizing museum entrances, rethinking the size of visitor groups and making sure people know they are not allowed to take photos in the galleries.

For comparison, the Louvre received 8.7 million visitors in 2024, the Vatican Museums 6.8 million, the British Museum in London 6.5 million, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York 5.7 million.