Free museum days in Barcelona & Madrid - too crowded & advance time-entry tickets still required?

When we had a stop over in Madrid a couple of years ago, we went to the Prado at 17:45 for the free evening entrance. The line was already the length of the entire building. Not only would it have taken us until closing time to get in, once inside, I would not have wanted to deal with the crowds. We had been the year before, paid admission, and at times, had rooms to ourselves. Spectacular museum. Try and go at an "off" time, pay the admission, and enjoy the art without the jostling crowds to obstruct your view. Probably less of a chance of getting pickpocketed as well.

In Barcelona, even though we arrived at the Picasso Museum before it opened (not on a Sunday), there was still a line down the block to get in, though once inside, the museum did not seem crowded. When we left at about noon for lunch, there was no admission line, so perhaps that would be a good time to go. Another good museum to see in Barcelona is the Miro. Also, we much preferred Gaudi's Casa Batllo to the interior tour of Casa Mila, which I thought was overpriced and limited in scope. The beauty of Casa Mila is the outside, not the interior, which is an office building.

You didn't ask about the Reina Sofia, but I went during the free time in September 2015 and it was not overly crowded.

The MNAC (I believe that the "Catalan Art Museum" you are referring to) is HUGE. My first clue as to how big it was is that the standard admission ticket is good for two days. So, even if there are some crowds (and I don't think it gets them), it's probably large enough to handle them.

I do not know whether any of the places you mention require that you obtain a timed-entry ticket for the free day. I wouldn't be surprised if the Picasso Museum does. I imagine Rick covers this in his book.

To a Spaniard, lunchtime more or less starts at 2 PM, so I'd expect some folks to exit the museums around 1:30 or so. Whether that will help at the Picasso, I do not know. It was a nightmare late in the afternoon on a regular (not free) day in August 2016. I'll say the same thing to you I say to others: Skip that museum if you don't have a serious interest in it. Barcelona has many other art museums, and only the Picasso tends to be packed shoulder to shoulder so that it is difficult to get close enough to the art to read the descriptive material posted beside it. Perhaps if you were to arrive an hour before opening time on the free day...

I actually went to the MNAC on a free Sunday that same August, and there was no significant line to contend with. It's large, but not as large as the Prado. There were lots of folks inside the museum, but not to the extent that you couldn't get up close to the art and move around at will. Don't miss the church frescos and the modernism collection.

You might get lucky at the Palau Guell, which I think also has some free time on the first Monday of the month. I don't claim that it is a substitute for Casa Mila/Casa Batllo, but it's worth visiting, and as expensive as everything is in Barcelona, free is wonderful.

I went to the Prado on Museum Day in May 2016, but it was a Wednesday, and it seemed apparent that the tourists didn't realize the museum was free and the locals, naturally, were at work during the day. There was no line to enter. I guess it's like the Louvre: Everyone wants to see a few famous paintings. On the day I was there, there were clots of people standing in front of Las Meninas and the Garden of Earthly Delights. Otherwise, there was nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the museum.

Half the people at the Reina Sofia (not on Museum Day) seemed to be standing in front of Guernica. I have no memory of any sort of crowding at the Thyssen.

The Picasso Museum is a whole different matter.

I was in Barcelona and Madrid in early September 2017. Even for free entry to the Picasso Museum, you need to reserve a time. Tickets are available 4 days in advance. I reserved our tickets 2 days prior to the free Sunday and they had lots of time slots open. The museum was not very crowded.

We walked by Palau Guell for free admission on the first Sunday and the line was extremely long. So we did not go on the free admission day.

In Madrid, we attempted to go to the Prado during the free evening admission times. The lines were too long and moving very slowly. So we went during regular hours and paid for our tickets.

Are you over 65?

These museums have free admissions for seniors: Thyssen-Bornemisza, Reina Sofia, Museo Cerralbo, and Museo Sorolla.
The senior discount ticket for the Prado is 7.5 euro.

In Barcelona, La Nit dels Museus (the Night of the Museums) is rather different, lots of people -an estimated 200,000 in 2017- attend to visit one or more of the 87 museums and exhibition centres. The event lasts from 7pm to 1am and queues in many sites are the norm, albeit in some they're manageable. Every year there are new sites included (and some are dropped too). The map of the sites for last year was this.

My two cents: while for some sites this is an opportunity to visit as they're not open to the public the rest of the year, for those that are I don't think it's a useful moment for visitors to visit. Yes, you'll "save" a few euros, but you'll have to queue more often than not and the visit can be a bit rushed due to the sheer amount of people in some of the sites. If I was travelling to a place I don't get the chance to visit often I probably would prefer a less crowded day, even if I have to pay. If you're in town that night though, I suggest you take the opportunity and choose instead those venues that are not open regularly to visitors.

Note that some of the public museums -those run by the City Hall or by the Catalan Government, such as MACBA or MUHBA among other- as well as a few private ones (Picasso for example)- have days in which entry is free. Unfortunately, that's not the case for some of the most popular (Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera... ) as those are privately run -hence they're run for profit- and have no reason or need to attract more visitors with a free day. Check the individual websites to see which ones have a free entry day. But again, on free day they're far busier than normal, just sayin'

Enjoy!

Because so many Barcelona sights have lengthy opening hours, there's less need to take advantage of Museum Night to seize extra sightseeing time. Places not normally open are a different matter, as Enric points out. I remember an earlier discussion or two about France's Day of Patrimony (or similar name) in which posters said lines could be very, very long.

Went to the Reina Sofia in September 2014 during the free evening hours. The line wasn’t too bad and it moved fairly quickly; maybe 10 minutes to get in.

Thanks everyone for terrific feedback! You have convinced me to purchase the Airticket BCN pass which will give me peace of mind and flexibility. I do not want to spend valuable Spain time in lines!

This forum is so very helpful. Thanks.