Genoa and Asturias: Emigration Museums Help Us Understand Historical and Present-Day Realities

September 10, 2025. The Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa, Italy, and the Emigration Museum ("Archivo de Indianos") in Asturias, Spain, display artifacts and testimonies from Italian and Spanish emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Visiting them is a highly interesting experience.

The Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa, Italy, explains Italian emigration, particularly Genoese emigration, to the Americas. It chronicles the experiences of emigrants to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and the United States. In this museum, we explore a reproduction of a ship with its cabins and artifacts to help us understand the difficulties faced by those Italians of that time. Finally, it explains the changing demographics and the new immigration to Italy. It displays a small boat used by current immigrants to Europe. More information at https://www.galatamuseodelmare.it/museo/galata/

The "Museum of Emigration, Archive of Indians" is located in the town of Colombres (Asturias, Spain). It houses numerous documents, objects, and testimonies from Asturian and Spanish emigrants in general, who emigrated to Mexico, Cuba, the United States, Chile, and Venezuela. More information at https://www.archivodeindianos.es/

After visiting both museums, IPCM President Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga noted, "We learned about past migrations and their current parallels. It's very interesting for our role at IPCM."