SPAIN is home to a staggering 1,600-plus museums, making choosing your culture fix for a weekend away a truly tricky decision.
Now add in the hundreds of weird and wonderful temporary exhibitions gracing the country this year and Spain is a genuine sweet shop for culture vultures.
Everything from centuries-old grand masters to modern-day tapestries and from civil war rescue paintings to works created during apartheid South Africa, the country has it all.
Here are six of our favourite exhibitions around Spain in 2026:
Sevilla: Museo de Bellas Artes
Los Becquer, un linaje de artistas (Until March 15)
Now in its last month, the Los Becquer exhibition of 100 works puts the spotlight on the most important artists during Sevilla’s romantic era.
It begins with the work of Jose Becquer before moving onto that of his cousin and student Joaquin D. and then, ultimately, focusing on brothers Valeriano and Gustavo Becquer.
The rooms highlight the significance of the Becquer family on Spanish art, demonstrating the international acclaim of the family’s creations. Entry is €1.50 or free for EU citizens.
Malaga: Museo Picasso
Picasso Memory and Desire (until April 12)
The exhibition explores the relationship between memory and desire, focusing on Picasso’s 1925 painting, ‘Studio with Plaster Head‘. It examines the influence of Picasso’s work on contemporary artists.
With over 100 works, including interpretations of Picasso’s themes by artists such as Salvador Dalà and Federico GarcÃa Lorca, the exhibition presents a dialogue between history and the modern era.
If you’re interested in how art evolved in the 20th century and how Picasso influenced the industry, you should visit before mid April. The entry is €13.
Madrid: Reina Sofia
Viva el arte vivo (February 11 – June 8)
Here we take a look at the short but influential time in which artist Alberto Greco produced his work, which was inseparable from the migrant journey he began in 1950.
Moving through numerous locations, from Buenos Aires to Rome to New York and Ibiza, Greco’s story is one of numerous journeys and street wandering.
With works produced between 1949 to 1965, the exhibition includes his early writings and paintings and later drawings and novels, making reference to mass media and inspiration from local festivals, religious celebrations and day to day life.
General entry to the museum costs €12.
Bilbao: Guggenheim
In situ: Igshaan Adams. Unsettling Dust: The Body’s Archive (May 1 – November 1)
The work of South African, Igshaan Adams, took inspiration from the community he grew up in, which felt the divisions of Apartheid.
He particularly looks at themes of race, religion, sexuality and memory.
Collaborating with the Garage Dance Ensemble, his work also involves dancers moving on canvases placed on the floor.
The ‘dance traces’ become symbols of liberation and connection which are used in his work.
The artist’s tapestries and textiles created in Athens in 2024 will be hung from hooks and suspended. The museum costs €15.
Valencia: Museo de Bellas Artes
Magdalena. Santa y pecadora (October 29 – February 14)
Reflecting on the roles assigned to women is ‘Magdalena’. Santa y Pecadora.
Magdalena was a key figure in Western sculpture and painting because she was presented as a Christian role model. Nevertheless, she did not conform to the established norms, setting an example for how a woman could be both beautiful and independent of men.
With almost 70 pieces of art from the Mediterranean Baroque period, this exhibition sparks conversations and discussions about the role of women, which can be related to current debates in modern society. Admission is free.
Barcelona: Museu Nacional D’art de Catalunya
Recuperado del enemigo. Los depositos franquistas en el MNAC’ (February 19 – June 29)
This exhibition looks back to the past, putting the spotlight on the extraordinary effort that went into saving Spanish artwork during the Franco regime.
Following the Republican defeat, many people joined forces to protect artworks threatened by the dictatorship. The Barcelona Museum became a place where these pieces were delivered, stored and managed by the Service for the Defence of the National Artistic Heritage (SPDAN).
Here are 146 pieces deposited by SPDAN, exploring the themes of political memory and transparency. Entry costs €2.
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