Work signed by Picasso, in a walled village in the Madrid mountains, at no charge whatsoever. The catch is not the price: it is that the museum shuts at 13:45.
The Picasso Museum – Eugenio Arias Collection in Buitrago del Lozoya charges nothing, temporary exhibitions included. What it demands is attention to a split timetable with three different shapes depending on the day. It opens 11:00 to 13:45 and 16:00 to 18:00 from Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 on Saturdays, and mornings only on Sundays.
What are the opening hours of the Picasso Museum in Buitrago del Lozoya? The Picasso Museum – Eugenio Arias Collection opens Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 to 13:45 and 16:00 to 18:00, Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00, and Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00. It closes on Mondays. Admission is free, temporary exhibitions included.
The barber who kept twenty-five years of gifts
The collection is what Picasso signed over to Eugenio Arias, his barber for the last 25 years of his life, from 1948 to 1973. It was not bought and it was not lent by an institution: it is what one man accumulated from his client across a quarter of a century.
Arias gave that holding to his village, and the museum opened in 1985 inside premises of the town hall, at Plaza de Picasso 1. The Comunidad de Madrid runs the collection today.
That provenance explains the regime. There is no fare the Comunidad publishes, general or reduced, which is the same total exemption applied at the Cervantes birthplace museum in Alcalá de Henares.
Three timetables, none matching the last
Opening hours come in three shapes rather than one. Sundays and public holidays are the simplest, morning only, 10:00 to 14:00. Saturdays run longest at both ends, 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. Tuesday to Friday the museum keeps the shortest day, 11:00 to 13:45 and again 16:00 to 18:00.
The figure that catches people out is the first one. On weekdays the midday close is not 14:00 but 13:45, fifteen minutes earlier than almost anyone assumes.
| Day | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Closed | Closed |
| Sundays and holidays | 10:00 to 14:00 | Closed |
| Saturday | 10:00 to 14:00 | 16:00 to 19:00 |
| Tuesday to Friday | 11:00 to 13:45 | 16:00 to 18:00 |
Free outright, not free in slots
There is no fare here at all. That is a different model from the one the capital runs, where free access is something to be rationed rather than granted.
Four regimes sit side by side in the region:
- Buitrago and Alcalá — no fare at any time, exhibitions included
- The eight state museums — €3, free on set days of the week
- The Prado — €15, free in two-hour evening windows
- The Temple of Debod — free, but by timed session with an assigned slot
The last two are covered in Madrid’s free museums and how the Temple of Debod is booked. In Buitrago there is nothing to ration, and the only limit on a visit is the split timetable.
Monday closes every direction out of Madrid
The calendar the Comunidad publishes shuts the Buitrago museum on Mondays, and so do the other three day-trip destinations. The Cervantes birthplace museum, the Monastery of El Escorial and the Royal Palace of Aranjuez all open Tuesday to Sunday.
Four institutions are involved, two of them the Comunidad de Madrid and two Patrimonio Nacional, and they land on the same closing day without having agreed on it, as compared in day trips from Madrid.
For anyone leaving Madrid on a Monday, the only direction with something open is the mountains, where what is visited is not a building. There the limit is a car quota instead, as set out in how La Pedriza rations access.
Another northern village on the same axis carries its own access condition, since Patones de Arriba reserves its spaces for residents and sends visitors to park down in Patones de Abajo.
A 1.45pm weekday closing ruins more plans than most, and it sits with the other ten conditions in which Madrid villages are open and on which days.
Frequently asked questions about the Buitrago Picasso Museum
How much is the Picasso Museum in Buitrago del Lozoya?
Nothing at all. Admission is free, as are the activities and temporary exhibitions the Comunidad de Madrid runs there. It stands at Plaza de Picasso 1, inside premises of the Buitrago del Lozoya town hall.
What are the Picasso Museum opening hours in Buitrago?
Tuesday to Friday 11:00 to 13:45 and 16:00 to 18:00. Saturdays 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. Sundays and public holidays mornings only, 10:00 to 14:00. It closes on Mondays.
Why is there a Picasso museum in Buitrago del Lozoya?
Because Eugenio Arias, Picasso’s barber for the last 25 years of the artist’s life from 1948 to 1973, donated to his village the works Picasso had signed and given him. The museum opened in 1985.
Is there anywhere open on a Monday outside Madrid?
Not among the monuments. Buitrago, the Cervantes museum in Alcalá, El Escorial and Aranjuez all close on Mondays. Only the mountains stay open, and there access is limited by car quotas rather than by opening hours.
Picasso at no cost, behind a medieval wall, on condition that you arrive before a quarter to two.