The lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, assured this Monday in Bilbao that he continues to bet on the Guggenheim Urdaibai project, at a hearing at the Forum of Economic Expectations organized by the newspaper El Correo. Pradales acknowledged that he would like to “open the museum”, but stressed the importance of “not rushing and ensuring that all the cultural, environmental and social aspects of the project are worked out”. In this respect, he argued that this is a "not very invasive" project and that it is being dealt with in this way.

Lehendakari has stated that the project is "at a good time" and has recalled that the Board of the Guggenheim Museum has given itself a period of two years to work "in all aspects", since "we are talking about a biosphere reserve and, therefore, it must be taken into account, no doubt". The project will have two locations: one in the centre of Gernika and the other in the current shipyard of Murueta, within the reserve. According to Lehendakari, the remodeling of the yard would "reduce the urban impact", as it would "renaturalise" a large land and "improve the environment", including the "recovery of contaminated marshes and aquifers".

For its part, EH Bildu has criticised the project through its parliamentary spokesman, Pello Otxandiano, in the Basque Parliament. In an interview with Tele7, Otxandiano assured that if the Basque Government intends to carry out a listening process in the region, it must pay close attention to what is said. In this sense, he has stated that "there is no solid project" and has denounced that "the anti-museum attitude continues to increase". In addition, it questioned the decision to invest EUR 500 million in the Guggenheim "in a difficult economic context" while "other needs are not met".