MALAGA.- Spanish Baroness Carmen Thyssen today said she was "in love" with the museum that bears her name, which will open tomorrow in the capital of southern Spain with a permanent collection focused on nineteenth-century painting, predominantly Andalusian.

Carmen Cervera, widow of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, said in the presentation of the museum that the works on display in the new space, 230 were selected "for their quality and closeness to Andalusia, although there are paintings that are not Andalusian such as those by Sorolla, Regoyos and Beruete."

The Baroness has loaned these works for free for a period of fifteen years but was confident that "in no time" she will reach an agreement to extend the agreement.

Among the pieces that the public can see starting tomorrow, Carmen Cervera said there is an anonymous carving of Christ dated between 1230 and 1250 and a painting in which Guillermo Gómez Gil captured the Reding Fountain. "I acquired the painting many years ago at an auction in London and it was one of my first Spanish works, " she said.

For the official opening tomorrow, Carmen Cervera expects "many guests", although today she declined to disclose names and only announced the presence of actor Antonio Banderas.

For his part, the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, called the Museo Carmen Thyssen a cultural event of the "first order" made possible by "a wonderful collection assembled with passion for nearly thirty years ".