A request by the Basque Country to host Pablo Picasso’s wartime masterpiece Guernica has caused a political spat with Madrid and raised questions about the significance of the painting and the events that inspired it. Picasso painted the work in 1937, just months after Germany’s Condor Legion and Italy’s air force had firebombed the northern Basque town of Gernika in support of Francisco Franco’s rebels during the Spanish civil war. Since 1981 it has been exhibited in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid. However, the central government has responded by citing a report by the Reina Sofía Museum that warns that moving Guernica could damage it. The controversy has raised broader questions about the painting – and the bombing of the town of Gernika itself.

Source: The Irish Times April 10, 2026 14:55 UTC