Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Museo Reina Sofía — Picasso's Guernica
Madrid (Atocha) · Museum
The story
Picasso painted Guernica for the Spanish Republic's pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exhibition, in response to the bombing of the Basque town by the Condor Legion and Italian aircraft on 26 April 1937. The painting toured to raise support for the Republic. After the war it was looked after by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which also lent it to exhibitions, because Picasso wanted it to go to Spain only when democracy returned. MoMA handed it over to the Spanish government in September 1981; it was first shown in the Casón del Buen Retiro and moved to the Reina Sofía in 1992. The surrounding rooms place it among posters, photographs and film from the war, making this the best single introduction in Madrid to the war's propaganda and art.
What you can see today
Guernica and its preparatory sketches, with rooms of Civil War posters, photographs and the 1937 pavilion material.
Plan your visit
Closed Tuesdays; free entry in the evening on most weekdays (check hours). Photos are allowed without flash, tripod or selfie stick, unless a sign in the room says otherwise. Metro Atocha.
- Open
- Mon & Wed–Sat 10:00–21:00; Sun 10:00–14:30; closed Tuesdays
- Price
- €12 adults; free Mon & Wed–Sat 19:00–21:00 and Sun 12:30–14:30 (ticket still needed)
- Booking
- Free-hour tickets must be reserved online
- Notice
- Also closed 1 & 6 Jan, 1 May, 15 May, 9 Nov, 24, 25 & 31 Dec
Checked September 2026 from official sources: museoreinasofia.es. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_Centro_de_Arte_Reina_Sofía
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_Centro_de_Arte_Reina_Sofía
Nearby sites
- Telefónica building, Gran Vía · 1 km
- Templo de Debod — site of the Cuartel de la Montaña · 3 km
- Arco de la Victoria (Moncloa) · 4 km
- Parque del Oeste bunkers · 4 km
- Puente de los Franceses · 5 km
- Ciudad Universitaria front · 5 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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