The reform of the Ethnological Museum of Muro, at a standstill

PalmaIt was February 18, 2022, when the then Ministry of European Funds, University and Culture, headed by Miquel Company, announced an investment of over 8 million euros by the Ministry of Culture and Sport in the reforms of various state-owned museums and cultural institutions in the Balearic Islands. Among these was the “integral architectural and museographic rehabilitation” of the Ethnological Museum of Muro, which for years had suffered from significant deficiencies that hindered its operation. “At this time, the drafting of the architectural project has already been put out to tender, and the works are expected to begin in 2023”, it was stated in the press release published on the Government's website on that same day in 2022, that is, more than four years ago.

As of now, the works have neither begun nor does it seem possible to clarify when they will start. Because, in addition to requiring political involvement and bureaucracy, this reform requires an institutional alliance that stems from a tangle of responsibilities that even the officials themselves do not fully understand. Meanwhile, the situation of the building has not only not improved, but has worsened in these four years.

The management of the works

The building that houses the Ethnological Museum of Muro dates from 1670 and has about a thousand square meters of exhibition space. For more than a decade, various sectors have called for urgent and profound intervention to adapt it to its functions: the electrical supply is old and deficient, several rooms are closed due to not having the minimum conditions for conservation and visits, and it is a building that does not comply with basic accessibility requirements, to name just a few of the reasons that make a structural reform essential and urgent.

However, up to four institutions are involved in the management of this reform to varying degrees: the Ministry, the Government, the Consell de Mallorca, and the Muro City Council. Although it was the Government that announced the reform during the previous legislature, currently the response from the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture to any request regarding the Muro Ethnological Museum is that "the management has been transferred to the Consell de Mallorca, which is responsible for the execution of the works".

However, according to the Law on Delegation of Powers of the Museum of Mallorca – the Muro Museum is a section of it – published in the BOIB in February 2019, “the investments made in the aforementioned buildings and facilities, which do not constitute mere conservation and maintenance, must be programmed by the State administration and by the Administration of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands (...) at the initiative of either of these administrations or of the Consell insular de Mallorca, and always with prior consultation with the competent bodies of this insular institution”. Nevertheless, sources from the Conselleria insist that the management of the reform depends on the Consell and that the Government only has powers over personnel. “We have a follow-up meeting every quarter”, share sources from the Conselleria, without offering further details.

Since last November, ARA Balears has tried to obtain information about the state of these works, and about the real situation of the Museum, from the Culture department of the Consell de Mallorca, which is led by the insular vice-president Antònia Roca. The request has been made up to ten times, and has either received no response or has been postponed with the excuse of being “awaiting approval from Heritage”. In fact, the different people consulted on this matter agree that all information passes through the management of the Museum of Mallorca, which, although it has agreed to attend to ARA Balears, depended on the authorization of the Consell de Mallorca. Three months later, it has still not arrived.

“The situation is complicated”

He who has valued the current state of the museum, which was recognized as the best European museum in 1981, is the mayor of Muro, Miquel Porquer. According to him, the City Council is currently awaiting the reception of the basic project for the works. A project that, he says, they have been waiting for over six months to arrive and which depends on the Ministry, as Porquer assures. "The preliminary studies are done, for the issues of humidity and for the archaeological tests that had to be done and which delayed the entire process of the works," he explains. "But now we are waiting to have the basic project that will have to be authorized by both the Consell and the City Council. We wanted to avoid what happened with the Museum of Mallorca, where many rooms had to be closed after the renovation because problems arose there," Porquer continues, "and that is why we already have preliminary studies and actions done. However, the next steps depend on the State, because no matter how much the manager is the Consell de Mallorca, the owner, who provides the money and is responsible for everything, is the State. When Gabriel Alomar donated the building, he did not donate it to the City Council or the Government, he donated it to National Heritage, so everything depends on them."

In addition to the renovation of the building, the project presented four years ago included the cataloging of the elements on display, which was to serve to redesign the future of the museum. In May 2024, the purchase of the house adjacent to the museum was made official, with the intention of depositing all the material it contains there while the works last and later converting it into part of the museum. However, the mayor confirms that neither the transfer of the material nor its final inventory has been started. That said, the museum is open today, Miquel Porquer clarifies. "The situation is complicated and everything is deteriorated, but we committed to keeping it open until the works begin and we will do so. And we will do everything we can to speed them up. When we receive the basic project, we will approve it as soon as we can and we will try to start without having to wait any longer. Because if we have to wait again, it could be a couple more years before we start."