Overview
- Lehendakari Imanol Pradales, after meeting Pedro Sánchez at La Moncloa on Friday, asked for a temporary loan as a political and symbolic act of repair and as a message against war and dictatorships.
- The Museo Reina Sofía issued a technical report that strongly advises against moving the canvas, warning that transport vibrations could cause new cracks, paint loss, and damage to the fabric, which now sits in tightly controlled climate conditions.
- Vicelehendakari Ibone Bengoetxea met Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun to seek a feasibility and logistics study on how a transfer could work, what conditions would be required, and what it would cost, with talks due to resume after Easter.
- Pradales proposes to show the work at the Guggenheim Bilbao from October 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, to mark the 90th anniversaries of the first Basque Government and the bombing of Gernika.
- The push revives requests first made in 1997 and repeated in 2006, which Spain rejected over the painting’s fragility, its large size, and the technical complexity of any move.