Overview
- Police detained two Futuro Vegetal activists on Spain’s National Day and later arrested them on alleged crimes against cultural heritage, with judicial processing pending.
- Emergency teams removed most visible paint within hours, yet conservators report residues in craquelure, varnish penetration, and damage to the gilded frame and nearby surfaces.
- Museum officials estimate further interventions will cost thousands of euros and will take time as specialists determine appropriate techniques for long-term conservation.
- Futuro Vegetal claimed responsibility, framing the action as a protest against the October 12 commemoration and what it calls ongoing neocolonial extractivism affecting Indigenous lands and resources.
- The museum said the large 1892 canvas will remain on view, with leaders noting it may be displayed “with its wounds,” and the incident coincided with other holiday-timed protests such as a Guernica sit-in at the Reina Sofía.