Overview
- The board of trustees, which includes the Basque regional government, the Biscay provincial council and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, voted this week to stop the plan after a multi‑year review.
- Environmental groups and local campaigners welcomed the reversal following sustained protests and legal challenges in the UNESCO‑designated Urdaibai reserve.
- The shelved proposal envisioned twin sites in Gernika and at the Murueta shipyards linked by a green path, with warnings that up to 140,000 extra visitors could harm sensitive wetlands used by migratory birds.
- Opponents highlighted nearly two decades of litigation and pointed to rules requiring the Murueta shipyards to be dismantled at the end of their industrial concession, constraining permanent redevelopment.
- The decision is described as the institution’s biggest shift since the museum’s 1997 opening and the so‑called Bilbao effect, as leaders signal work on alternative avenues for growth.