Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

They call on the Guggenheim Foundation in New York to “not bring illegal museums” to Urdaibai

  • The environmental association Zain Dezagun Urdaibai, along with several neighbours of Busturialdea, has written a letter to the Guggenheim Foundation. He has been informed that the arrival of the museum would cause the conservation of the Urdaibai biosphere to deteriorate in the face of the tourist interests of the authorities.
Urdaibaietz plataformaren elkarretaratzea bat. Argazkia: Ekologistak Martxan
Artikulu hau CC BY-SA 3.0 lizentziari esker ekarri dugu.

16 February 2023 - 08:20

Environmental association Zain Dezagun Urdaibai and several Busturialdea neighbours have sent a letter to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York. In the letter they request that he renounce the museum project they want to build in Murueta, as well as the construction of the so-called Green Road that would unite the former Dalia factory in Gernika-Lumo. In this second location, it is argued that there could be bodies of the dead in the 1937 Gernika bombing. They added that the construction of this project would not agree with the idea of making Gernika an international benchmark against wars and for peace and memory.

The association wanted to inform the foundation of New York that in some media “they define the project in order to give a better publicity: the dissemination of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in Urdaibai”.

The letter sent on Monday includes the signing of 22 people from different areas living or working in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. These neighbors want to remind the 22 patrons of the Guggenheim Bilbao that “they will not let anyone outside their daily lives “rob the decision” about their scope of life, present and future.

The contents of the letter were announced on 12 February, at the end of the march organized by the Urdaibai platform. Many protesting neighbours received information about the inadequacies and illegalities of installing a museum in Gernika and Murueta. Among other things, they stressed that the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve would mean sacrificing the Biosphere Reserve for the benefit of the tourism interests of the current authorities, believing that approximately 140,000 visitors would meet annually in both locations. At the end of the march, the actions to be taken against these projects were also announced, “the actual contents of these projects are not officially known and have more shadows than lights”, the organizers stressed.

The letter to the Guggenheim Foundation in New York is best:


You are interested in the channel: Urdaibaiko Guggenheim
2024-12-11 | Julene Flamarique
Pradales strongly supports the Guggenheim de Urdaibai and argues that it is a “non-invasive” project.
The board of the Guggenheim has given itself a period of two years to work on all aspects of the project, as “without a doubt” it must be taken into account that it will be located in a biosphere reserve. Pello Otxandiano doubts to allocate EUR 500 million to the project... [+]

2024-11-13 | Iñaki Barcena
Megaproject undemocratic tourism

Two years ago Urdaibai Guggenheim Stop! Since the creation of the popular platform, Urdaibai is not for sale! We hear the chorus everywhere. On 19 October we met thousands of people in Gernika to reject this project and, in my opinion, there are three main reasons for opposing... [+]


2024-10-23 | Julene Flamarique
Greenpeace submits a complaint against the Guggenheim de Urdaibai for violation of the Coast Law
The woman has filed her complaint with the National High Court and has called for "an immediate halt to the project". He warned that it would violate two laws: The National Hearing will transfer to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of the... [+]

An appeal obliges to paralyze the works of a road connected to the Guggenheim Urdaibai
The Basque Government has paralysed the execution of a wooden pedestrian crossing in Murueta for an indefinite period, following the appeal made by the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform. This road could be one of the accesses to the Museum and the biosphere reserve would be... [+]

Urdaibai vs Guggenheim
The Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia announced at the beginning of the year a “two-year period of reflection”, but it is not stagnating because public institutions are anticipating and fixing the obstacles they may have in the future. In addition, in... [+]

They launch a campaign to obtain 1,300,000 signatures for the conservation of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve
The initiative is driven by the NGO Seo/BirdLife and the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform, and the number of signatures refers to the number of visitors each year the Bilbaíno museum has. They have pointed out that the “critical and irreversible” impacts that Guggeheim of... [+]

The Guggenheim of Urdaibai and Santa Clara Island of San Sebastian receive a black flag like last year
Ekologistak Martxan distributes black flags every year for pollution and mismanagement. The other two flags have been collected by the macro-farm of Getaria and the Lamiako marsh of Leioa.

The Diputación de Bizkaia begins the process of buying land for the Guggenheim de Urdaibai
The Provincial Council of Bizkaia plans to purchase 32,000 square meters in Murueta for the construction, among others, of the Guggenheim Museum in Urdaibai.

2024-02-28 | ARGIA
Initiatives against the Guggenheim project in Urdaibai are not suspended
Lakua and the Diputación de Bizkaia announced in January the suspension of the Guggenheim project of Urdaibai for two years, but entrepreneurs continue to fight for the museum not to be built. The latest activity of the climate activists Vegetable Future and the tour of the... [+]

Guggenheim Urdaibai: two years of fighting

On 22 January, Iñigo Urkullu and Elixabete Etxanobe attended the media jointly, and Urkullu announced that the institutions they represent will have a two-year period to analyze the viability of the Guggenheim Urdaibai project. It says that changes are being made in the... [+]


EH Bildu defines as “cable collection” the decision to stop the Guggenheim Urdaibai project for two years
EH Bildu met mayors and councillors from the Busturialdea district at a press conference in Gernika. Senator Idurre Bideguren has pointed out that the measure is “another example of an outdated management model” of the PNV.

Eguneraketa berriak daude