Overview
- At Guernica’s cemetery, the German president laid a wreath alongside Spain’s King Felipe VI to commemorate those killed in the air raid.
- He said Germans carry a “heavy burden of guilt in Guernica” and described the atrocity as a warning to defend fundamental rights.
- The Condor Legion destroyed the Basque town on April 26, 1937, killing hundreds in one of the earliest large-scale bombings of civilians.
- In Madrid, he viewed Picasso’s “Guernica” with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and held talks as part of his state visit.
- The trip took place as the far-right AfD leads some German polls, adding domestic weight to his warnings about right-wing extremism.