The project to expand the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in the Urdaibai Natural Space is continuing and its funding has begun to materialise. The Spanish Government has thus announced the contribution of EUR 40 million.

On Tuesday, the Governing Council of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Council of Ministers of the Government of Spain signed an agreement to carry out "special activities for sustainable development" in Urdaibai in 2023, including the new headquarters of the Guggenheim Museum. The agreement must be approved by the Bizkaia General Boards.

The EUR 40 million will be provided by the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition, but will not be part of the board managed by the Guggenheim. The Basque Government, the Council and the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation are present in this board.

A further EUR 40 million is planned for the Guggenheim. For its part, the Basque Government, in the words of spokesman Bingen Zupiria, will assume the "commitments" of financing as the project "defines". In any case, the project has been viewed favourably by the government, which considers that it will "contribute positively" to the region.

A Guggenheim in downtown Yellowstone?

However, many other citizens and collectives have been strongly opposed to this expansion of the museum. For years, they have been denouncing the damage they are going to cause, such as the massive scale or the unsustainable tourism and cultural model. The popular movement Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop has recently appeared in Gernika.

In this movement, several Bustiralde groups have gathered that, in addition to denouncing the lack of transparency and information, they have called for a public debate on the project: "Would you do the same in Yellowstone or Yosemit?" they asked in the presentation.