The project was strongly contested by environmental associations and citizens' committees. In the end, the Guggenheim in Bilbao took a step back.
The Guggenheim museum in Bilbao has decided to abandon its expansion into the Urdaibai nature reserve. The project had been in play since 2008 and envisaged the opening of two new venues for the iconic contemporary art museum in the Basque Country: one in the city of Guernica, the other in the reserve near Murueta.
For some time, environmental associations and citizens' committees had been contesting the plan and the way it would have upended the local ecosystem. Basque political institutions had stated that the expansion would go ahead at any cost, but now the U-turn has arrived, marking a victory for citizens' and environmental movements.
The first expansion plans for the Guggenheim, the contemporary art museum that opened in Bilbao in 1997 and over the years has become a showcase for the Basque city and the province of Biscay, date back to 2008. The plan that developed over time was to move beyond the city and build two new satellite venues in the Urdaibai natural area, a Unesco Biosphere Reserve since the 1980s. The first in a disused factory in the town of Guernica, made famous by Pablo Picasso's painting, the second in an old shipyard still in operation in Murueta, connecting the two venues with a cycle and pedestrian path.
From 2023 onwards, things became more concrete with the announcement of an allocation of 40 million euros by the provincial government and a promise from the Spanish central government to match the same amount. The project, backed by the Guggenheim Foundation, the Basque government and the majority of local authorities led by the Christian-democratic autonomist party (PNV), aimed to reinvigorate an area considered forgotten, attracting investment and creating new jobs. Over time, however, strong opposition to its realisation emerged.
Environmental associations and groups such as Greenpeace, WWF and Friends of the Earth, together with committees made up of local residents, mounted fierce resistance against the Guggenheim expansion project.
Flags and banners depicting an enormous fish — the Guggenheim — devouring a smaller one — the Urdaibai reserve — appeared on balconies, along streets and in the squares of Bilbao and the rest of the province of Biscay. The accusation was of failing to involve citizens in the project, refusing any form of public consultation. Criticism was also levelled at its environmental impact, given that both the construction work and the influx of visitors, estimated at 140,000 per year, would have upended a fragile and protected natural site. Furthermore, the platform Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop, which led the protests, denounced yet further investment in the touristification of a province that would be better served by resources directed towards other sectors, such as infrastructure, transport and social services.
Local authorities were initially unmoved by the protests. The president of the province, Elixabete Etxanobe (of the PNV), had stated that the Guggenheim expansion would go ahead at any cost. But in recent months, civil society pressure against the project grew ever stronger, also backed by the left-wing autonomist opposition party.
As far back as late 2023, former Basque premier Íñigo Urkullu had announced a "period of reflection" of two years regarding the project. In the summer, the preliminary results of a non-binding public consultation on the Guggenheim expansion were published, showing an overwhelming majority — around 80 per cent — opposed to it. A series of bureaucratic and legal issues also emerged relating to the Murueta site, which would have required a significant slowdown in the process of finalising the project. In light of all these factors, on 18 December the museum's board announced the abandonment of the expansion project in the Urdaibai nature reserve, handing victory to citizens and environmental groups. The board stated at the same time that it "will explore new alternatives to address the challenge of developing a proposal that responds to the museum's objective of growth".
