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CULTURE

Nine weird (and wonderful) museums in Spain

Spain is home to some of the finest museums in the world, but it also boasts some of the most bizarre. From the museum dedicated entirely to melons to the museum of urinals, The Local counts down Spain’s weirdest.

Published: 7 September 2021 13:50 CEST
Updated: 17 September 2023 08:10 CEST
Nine weird (and wonderful) museums in Spain
The cave of Zugarramurdi which is said to have been inhabited by witches. Photo: JMSE / Wikimedia Commons

Spain is an ideal destination for culture vultures. Madrid’s ‘golden triangle’ of the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen, Barcelona’s Picasso Museum and Bilbao’s iconic Guggenheim are some of the places that many national and foreign tourists add to their itinerary.

But when you get sick of gazing at Goya, marvelling at Miró and peering at Picasso, why not visit some of Spain’s more, how shall we put it, ‘specialised’ museums.

From a warehouse dedicated to funeral carriages to a garden full of explicit stone sculptures, The Local walks you through Spain’s nine weirdest museums. 

The Urinal Museum, Ciudad Rodrigo

A trip to this pretty, walled city in Salamanca province is worth it just to visit this very special museum dedicated to urinals.

Nowhere in the known world will one come across such a vast collection of chamber pots, the result of an obsessional local landlord who gifted his bizarre collection to the town in 2006. Visitors are not required to spend a penny while there.

Photo: Luis Rogelio HM/Wikipedia

Museum of Funeral Carriages, Barcelona

If you tire of the traditional touristy sites of the Catalan capital and feel you’ve had enough of Gaudí architecture, modern art, and even shopping then why not take a break from culture and pop into this dusty old warehouse full of funeral paraphernalia?

Photo: Cementiris de Barcelona/Wikipedia

Forest of Naughty Sculptures (not official name), Girona

The “erotic forest” of Can Ginebreda features the work of sculptor Xicu Cabanyes, whose work leaves little to the imagination. Maybe not the best place to take the kids on a day out in Catalonia, but a good chance to shake off your inhibitions and marvel at everything from giant phalluses to naked women carved from stone. 

Visit the erotic sculpture park near Girona. Photo: Alberto-g-rovi / Wikimedia Commons

The Witch Museum, Zugarramurdi

The little town of Zugarramurdi in Navarre (northern Spain) has the dubious honour of being the epicentre of the occult activity that led to the infamous Basque Witch Trials during the Spanish Inquisition. The museum recounts how dozens of women were ripped from their homes and put on trial, so if you’re looking for a Halloween day out, look no further. 

The cave of Zugarramurdi is said to have been inhabited by witches. Photo: JMSE / Wikimedia Commons

Torture Museum, Santillana del Mar

This museum might even make some Fifty Shades of Grey fans blush. From guillotines, to clubs, to chastity belts, the torture museum explores all the sickening ways people were tortured and publicly humiliated in the Middle Ages and beyond.

Photo: MiguelAlanCS/Wikipedia

Melon Museum, Villaconejos

Spring is well on its way here in Spain and there’s nothing nicer than biting into a slice of juicy melon…or is there? What about a visit to the only museum in the world dedicated to the fruit and its farmers? The town of Villaconejos near Madrid is home to generations of melon farmers and every autumn celebrates its very own melon festival.

Photo: Malopez 21/Wikipedia

Tooth Mouse Museum, Madrid

While Spaniards may not have the tooth fairy, they do have a little mouse who does more or less the same job. Ratoncito Pérez, the creature beloved by all Spanish children, first appeared in a story by Spanish author Luis Coloma in 1902. Now the mouse has his very own museum in Madrid, where you can find out all about him and his family (he has a wife and three children of course). 

READ ALSO: Why a mouse called Pérez is Spain’s tooth fairy

Photo: Jlordovas/Flickr

Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers, Guadalest

Kitschy salt and pepper shakers are a staple of mom-and-pop shops and the kitchen decor of your great aunt Sue, but who would think that such innocuous seasoning containers deserved their own museum? Spaniards do, or at least those in the Valencian town of Guadalest. Marvel at all the strange ways that one can add flavour to their dinner. 

Microminiature Museum, Guadalest

Ever wanted to see a flea dressed as a bullfighter? Well now you can! The Microminiature Museum in Guadalest (clearly a global leader when it comes to unusual museums) showcases some of the finest works of Manuel Ussá, one of the world’s best ‘microminiaturists’. Marvel at the Statue of Liberty in the eye of a needle and Goya’s famous painting The Shootings of the 2nd of May painted onto a grain of rice. If you like your culture in small doses, this is the museum for you. Unbelievably, it’s not the only microminiature museum in the Iberian peninsula, with a competitor in the town of Ordino in the microstate of Andorra.

Photo: Nicolaï Syadristy/Wikipedia

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, like in the United States, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that in Spain.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing the May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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