MADRID.- The three great museums in Madrid, The Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornesmiza, received during the fist six months of 2008 a total of 3,024,878 visitors, data that reveals an increase in visitors with respect to the numbers of 2007.

The Prado Museum, which is ahead of the others, has received a total of 1,532,251 visitors. Of these six months the one that had more visitors was May with 287,826.

During that month the galleries of the museum exhibited Goya in times of war, which was open between April 15 and July 14. This exhibit has become the second most visited in the whole history of the museum with 438,000 visitors.

An interesting fact registered at the Prado is that since October 31, 2007 when the new galleries opened until this past Sunday, over 2,200,000 people have visited the museum.

In the first semester of 2007, the number of visitors that the Prado received was 1,361,294 visitors, which gives a 30% increase from last year.

The number of visitors to the Reina Sofia has also increased, with 19% compared to last year’s numbers in the first six months of this year. During this period 1,037,485 people have visited while last year the Lumber was 872,119.

This significant increase is due to the exhibit the Reina Sofia dedicated to the Collection of the Picasso Museum in Paris, which reached the record Lumber of 547,810 visitors. No other exhibition at this museum had ever received as many visitors.

The exhibition that the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum dedicated to Modigliani and his time, which was seen at the museum by 226,355 people and at Caja Madrid by 182,052, was the biggest event this museum had this past season.

From January to June the Thyssen received 455,142 visitors compared to the 432,195 that it received in the same period last year when it was showing a van Gogh exhibit.