About 700 cultural initiatives have been recognized as the most outstanding of the national scene during the past year
The Prado Museum, in the first place, and the Reina Sofía Museum, in second place, repeats in the national ranking of cultural institutions better valued for 2024. Meanwhile, the San Sebastián Festival goes up a position and is in third place that forms The ‘Top 3’, as can be seen from the Culture Observatory, corresponding to last year, made by Contemporary Foundation.
According to the report to which Europa Press has had access, they continue, in fourth and fifth place, the Guggenheim Museum-which goes up a position-and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Then they continue the CCCB, which has uploaded five positions; CaixaForum, which goes up four; The Real Theater and the Juan March Foundation, which goes up four. Arc, matched with the Malaga Festival-which also uploads four-, complete the top ten positions.
The list, which highlights more than 700 cultural proposals throughout Spain, indicated by panelists as the best in the different proposed categories, has counted in this edition, during the months of November and December 2024, with the responses of 461 members of the Panel, of which 43.7% work in a public cultural organization, 34.7% in a private cultural organization and the remaining 21.6% as independent professionals from the sector.
The relationship is completed with up to 106 institutions and activities throughout Spain, although among the most prominent entries are Festival in Malaga, the International Festival of Classical Theater of Almagro, Matadero Madrid, the Valencian Institute of Modern Art, the Macba. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, the Mapfre Foundation, the Sónar+D Festival, the Seinci, the Lighting House, the Botín Center or the Picasso Museum of Malaga.
On the other hand, the Contemporary Foundation values the progression of Chillida Leku, which has risen 64 positions from the Centennial Chillida; Musac, who wins 49; The Mop Foundation, up 47; Dansa Valencia, achieves 37 more numbers; Feten, go up 32; the National Dramatic Center, rises 21; or the Granada Festival, which goes up 19.
However, the institutions less valued in the previous year have been the Ribera Sound Music Festival, the National Music Auditorium, the Niemeyer Center, the Goya Awards of Valladolid or, ultimately, the House of Architecture.
Facing 2025, the sector figure its growth forecast by 1.59%, below inflation. The forecast is better for private sector panelists (3.13%) than for the public sector (0.37%) and independent professionals (1.61%).
Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country lead for their programming
The panel also values the quality and innovation of the cultural offer based on the autonomous communities and, in that sense, it has the leadership of Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country, followed by Andalusia, which has risen a position, and Valencia Community.
In the second block and indicated by more than 10% of the participants, Galicia, Navarra, Asturias and Cantabria appear. On the opposite, the worst valued have been Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, La Rioja, Extremadura and, ultimately, Aragon.
On the quality of the cultural offer of the cities in 2024, they occupy the top positions Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, which returns to third place, Malaga, Valencia, Seville, San Sebastián, Santander, Valladolid and Zaragoza, despite the bad position of Aragon compared to the rest of the communities.
The cultural badge of Spain is, one more year, for the Prado
The Culture Observatory grants cultural badges every year to the highlights of each community and the whole of Spain. In this edition, the cultural badge of Spain has been, one more year, for the Prado Museum.
Among the cultural badges of each community, there are relay compared to the previous year in seven communities: the Malaga Festival in Andalusia, the new Estoarradios Festival in Aragon, is Baluard in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands Music Festival, Herrerian Patio in Castilla and León, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid and the Pamplona meetings in Navarra.
The Gijón Film Festival in Asturias, Botín Center in Cantabria, the Almagro Festival in Castilla-La Mancha, the CCCB in Catalonia, the IVAM in the Valencian Community, the Mérida Festival in Extremadura, The Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, currently in La Rioja, the Sea of Music in Murcia region and the San Sebastian Festival in the Basque Country.