State museums in Spain have begun the process of removing human remains from their exhibition halls in accordance with a new decree from the country's Ministry of Culture. The document emphasizes the importance of ethical handling of such exhibits and respect for human dignity, RUNEWS24.RU reports.

This decision is in line with the ethical principles developed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), which notes the changing approaches to the display of human remains in the context of modern museum developments.

Under the new requirements, 16 Spanish museums must ensure the "respectful and dignified" storage and handling of remains, taking into account the cultural and religious characteristics of the communities and ethnic groups to which the remains may belong.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Spanish museums hold around 15 thousand specimens of human remains, including mummies and bone fragments. However, most of them are no longer on public display, but are kept in storage facilities where only researchers have access to them for research.

The most extensive collection of human remains, numbering more than four thousand items, is housed in the National Museum of Anthropology.