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Auxiliadora Llamas takes over as director of the Malaga Museum

bonart malaga - 05/11/26

María Auxiliadora Llamas Márquez is the new director of the Museum of Málaga. Her appointment, published this past Tuesday, November 3, in the Official Gazette of the Regional Government of Andalusia, comes after the retirement of María Morente del Monte, who led the institution for almost two decades. Llamas, until now curator at the Museum of Cádiz, has a background in museum management and heritage conservation, a role she has also fulfilled since 2023 as president of the Spanish national committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

The new director has firsthand knowledge of the Museum of Málaga. Between 2005 and 2006, she worked on cataloging the holdings of its Archaeology and Fine Arts collections, an initial professional experience that allowed her to become familiar with the institution's contents and specific characteristics. Subsequently, between 2014 and 2020, as head of the Museums Service of the Regional Government of Andalusia, she actively participated in coordinating the work prior to the museum's opening in its permanent location, the Customs Palace, which was inaugurated at the end of 2016.

Her appointment comes at a symbolic moment for the center, which is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its establishment in the Customs Palace. A decade after its opening, the museum still faces some challenges, including the creation of an official guide to help promote its collections and strengthen its public presence.

Visitor numbers are another indicator that this new phase will have to address. Between January and July 2026, the Museum of Málaga received 139,324 visitors, nearly 6,000 fewer than during the same period of the previous year.

Llamas thus assumes the leadership of an institution with which he already had a close professional relationship, and in a context where the dissemination of its collections and the consolidation of its audiences are emerging as two of its main challenges. Since 2023, as head of ICOM Spain, he also represents an international non-governmental organization founded in 1946 and linked to UNESCO, dedicated to providing specialized advice to museums and their professionals.