Madrid’s Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the city’s royal academy of fine arts, is at Calle de Alcalá 13, about 300 metres up the street from Puerta del Sol, and its museum keeps 13 paintings by Francisco de Goya plus the copper plates of his four print series in the Calcografía Nacional. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 3pm, and an adult ticket costs €10. From Tuesday to Friday between 1.30pm and 3pm, except public holidays, the permanent collection is free: a 90-minute window that ends when the museum closes.
Is the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando free? The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando opens its permanent collection free from Tuesday to Friday, 1.30pm to 3pm, except on public holidays, and on 18 May, 12 October and 6 December. Weekends are paid all day, and groups are not admitted in that window.
- Ticket: €10 for adults, including exhibitions; €5 for over-65s.
- Free with proof: under-18s and university students aged 18 to 25.
- Highlights: The Burial of the Sardine, La Tirana and the Goya Cabinet.
- Metro: Sevilla (Line 2) about 200 m, Sol (Lines 1, 2, 3) about 300 m.
Should you pay €10 or wait for the free window?
Pay the €10 at the Royal Academy of San Fernando only if you need a weekend or a morning, or want paid exhibitions. Otherwise, the free window from 1.30pm to 3pm, Tuesday to Friday, covers the same permanent collection, the Goya room and the Goya Cabinet included.
The window ends with the closing time, so arriving at 2.30pm leaves half an hour. Spanish public holidays that fall between Tuesday and Friday keep the museum open from 10am to 3pm but cancel the free slot, unless the date is one of the three free days. The building is shut for all of August, so a summer trip needs another plan.
Who pays what at the Royal Academy of San Fernando?
At Alcalá 13, the Academy charges €10 for an adult ticket to the Royal Academy of San Fernando, the only one that includes paid exhibitions as well as the museum and the Goya Cabinet. The €5 reduced ticket and the free tickets cover the permanent collection only.
The €5 rate applies to over-65s, retirees, students over 25 or with an international student card, members of the Spanish Federation of Friends of Museums and members of large families. Free entry, with proof, covers under-18s, university students aged 18 to 25, unemployed people, teachers, people with disabilities and a companion, official tourist guides, journalists and ICOM members, among others in the list the Academy publishes.
Groups are not admitted in the free window. Guided visits for individuals, with 20 places, start at 11am from Tuesday to Friday for the museum and at noon on Thursdays for the Goya Cabinet, with none on holidays, at Christmas, at Easter or from 22 July to 15 September; ask the price at the desk.
What can you see with the second floor closed?
The second floor of the Royal Academy of San Fernando has been closed since 2 May, until further notice. What stays open is enough for one visit: the Goya Cabinet, the main Goya room on the noble floor and Room 14.
- Goya Cabinet. The visit to the collections starts here, in the Gabinete Goya of the Calcografía Nacional, with the plates of the 82 Disasters of War, the 18 Disparates and the 80 plates of Los Caprichos. The room with the 33 Tauromaquia plates is closed while they are restored.
- Goya room. The main salon of the noble floor holds his 13 paintings, among them The Burial of the Sardine, the Self-portrait at the Easel, La Tirana and four works donated with the Burial in 1836: Procession of Flagellants, Inquisition Scene, The Madhouse and Village Bullfight.
- Room 14. Until 30 December, a portrait of George Washington painted by Josef Perovani in 1796 hangs next to Goya’s Manuel Godoy of 1801, with the museum ticket.
The Academy also owns Arcimboldo’s Spring, but its room is not listed and, with a floor shut, there is no guarantee it is on view.
What is on at the Academy until December?
Until 2 December, the Academy hosts Madrid en el Siglo de Oro. Crisol de destinos y desembarco de genios, an exhibition organised by the Ministry of Culture with free entry. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and on Sundays and holidays until 3pm, so it is the only part of the building open in the afternoon.
That makes Saturday the day to watch: the museum and the Goya Cabinet close at 3pm with no free window, and from then until 7pm only the free exhibition remains. On weekdays, the free museum window at 1.30pm and the exhibition can be seen on the same visit.
How do you get to the Royal Academy of San Fernando?
The nearest Metro station to the Royal Academy of San Fernando is Sevilla, on Line 2, about 200 metres along Calle de Alcalá. Sol, with Lines 1, 2 and 3 and Cercanías trains, is about 300 metres away: take the Alcalá exit and walk up the odd-numbered side to number 13. Any single ticket or travel card on the Metro gets you there; fares are in the Madrid Metro ticket guide.
The free Goya options in Madrid compare like this:
| Place | Free slot | Price outside it | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Academy of San Fernando | Tuesday to Friday, 1.30pm to 3pm | €10 | 13 Goya paintings and his copper plates |
| Prado Museum | 6pm to 8pm Monday to Saturday, 5pm to 7pm Sunday | €15 | Goya inside the national collection |
| San Antonio de la Florida hermitage | Always free, Tuesday to Sunday | €0 | Goya’s frescoes and his tomb |
The Prado free evening hours and the San Antonio de la Florida hermitage have the details, and the free museums in Madrid list orders every free slot by day. For a shorter Prado visit, the Prado route for two hours picks the rooms.
Royal Academy of San Fernando tickets and free entry questions
Is the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando free?
The permanent collection of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando is free from Tuesday to Friday, 1.30pm to 3pm, except on public holidays, and on 18 May, 12 October and 6 December. Saturdays and Sundays have no free window. Under-18s and university students aged 18 to 25 enter the collection free with proof.
How much is a ticket to the Royal Academy of San Fernando?
An adult ticket to the Royal Academy of San Fernando costs 10 euros and covers the museum, the Goya Cabinet and exhibitions. Visitors over 65, retirees, students over 25 or with an international student card, FEAM members and members of large families pay 5 euros for the permanent collection only.
What are the opening hours of the Royal Academy of San Fernando?
The museum of the Royal Academy of San Fernando opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 3pm, public holidays included. Closing days are every Monday, the whole of August, 1 and 6 January, 1 and 30 May, 9 November and 24, 25 and 31 December. The Goya Cabinet keeps the same hours.
Which Goya paintings are at the Royal Academy of San Fernando?
The Royal Academy of San Fernando holds 13 Goya paintings, among them The Burial of the Sardine, La Tirana and the Self-portrait at the Easel, plus portraits of Moratín, Juan de Villanueva, Manuel Godoy and an equestrian Ferdinand VII. The Goya Cabinet shows the copper plates of his four print series.
Is the Royal Academy of San Fernando open on Saturday afternoon?
No. The museum of the Royal Academy of San Fernando closes at 3pm every day it opens, Saturday included. Until 2 December, the free exhibition Madrid en el Siglo de Oro stays open in the same building until 7pm from Tuesday to Saturday, so a Saturday afternoon only covers that show.
At the Royal Academy, the decision is simple: a weekday at 1.30pm costs nothing, a weekend costs €10.