The Ethnology Museum in Muro, a branch of the Museum of Muro, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. At next weekend's fair, there will be an open day for visitors, but what will they find?
The director of the museum, Joana Maria Palou, describes the museum as an "open wound", it having been neglected for years by the government's culture ministry. This is a museum that is dedicated to life as it one time was, showing traditional rural activities related to farming and artisanship. The building itself was once - in the nineteenth century - a pharmacy. Yet, it has been allowed to deteriorate, the building affected by damp, without adequate electrical cabling or with easy access. If it were to be actually be closed, Palou fears that it wouldn't re-open.
The culture ministry has, however, indicated that it wants to rehabilitate the museum, the director for culture, Jaume Gomila, having recently met with Palou and the Muro councillor for culture, Miquel Porquer. Work on it would have to be comprehensive, and when it might start is not known.