On 10 January the Minister of Culture, César Antonio Molina, presented the new National Underwater Archaeology Museum -Arqua- on the Alfonso XII quay, which has been built by FCC Construcción.

The building and museum project, which was designed by the architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra., had a total budget of 20.84 million euros.

The new museum has a total area built of 6,000 square metres and will house over 1,000 submerged pieces from Spain's cultural heritage. It has also been equipped with the latest technologies, including interactive videos and scenes to bring visitors closer to the country's underwater heritage, as well as specially designed classrooms for education and research purposes.

The museum will be the first in Europe to be exclusively devoted to underwater archaeology, with about 80,000 visitors expected every year.