Overview
- ARCO 2026 will run March 4–8 at IFEMA in Madrid with 211 projects from 30 countries, including 175 in the General Program.
- Director Maribel López publicly urged a reduced cultural VAT, citing France at about 5.5%, Italy 5%, Germany 7%, and Belgium and Portugal near 6%.
- Galleries organized simultaneous concentrations inside major museums on Feb. 20, including the Reina Sofía, IVAM, MACBA, and CAAC, following an earlier week-long strike.
- Programming highlights include the ARCO2045 section curated by José Luis Blondet and Magali Arriola, Opening for young galleries, and Perfiles with single-artist Latin American presentations.
- ARCO underscores its Latin American focus, with 31% of international galleries from the region, while a MAV report flags setbacks in gender parity and notes ARCO’s drop to about 30% women artists in 2025.