The Urdaibai estuary is a natural area formed at the mouth of the Oka River, in the Bizkaia region of Busturialdea, in the Basque Country (Spain). It occupies an area of 220 km ² and has a great ecological wealth that has served to be qualified as a biosphere reserve by the MaB committee of Unesco in 1984, receiving the name of Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. It is also known as the Mundaca or Guernica estuary.Getty Images

Guggenheim Bilbao Scraps Biosphere Expansion Amid Local Opposition

by · ARTnews

Plans to build a €100 million satellite of the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain’s protected Urdaibai biosphere reserve have been abandoned after nearly two decades of legal challenges and escalating local opposition. The museum’s board of trustees — which includes the Basque regional government, the Biscay provincial council, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation — voted this week to halt the project, citing insufficient public support and scientific objections. 

Conceived as a two-site expansion aimed at revitalizing the struggling Busturialdea region, the project would have placed new cultural facilities in a refurbished factory in Gernika and on the former shipyards at Murueta, linked by a “green path.” Environmental groups argued that adding up to 140,000 visitors annually would cause irreversible damage to the wetlands, which provide essential habitat for migratory bird species including the sea eagle, spoonbill, and Eurasian bittern. Opponents also noted that Spanish law requires the Murueta shipyards to be dismantled when their industrial concession expires, preventing permanent redevelopment. 

Art World Figures Remember the Late Frank Gehry, Internationally Renowned Museum StarchitectNorman Foster, Gustavo Dudamel, and Bernard Arnault remember Frank Gehry on Instagram for his groundbreaking designs and outsize personality.Leigh Anne Miller, Maximilíano Durón, 08 Dec 2025Mediterranean Alliance for Wetlands Launches Campaign Against the Guggenheim Museum Expansion in SpainThe Mediterranean Alliance for Wetlands is campaigning against the expansion, as it stands to completely disrupt the biosphere reserve's ecosystem.Francesca Aton, 22 May 2025

The decision marks the most consequential shift for the institution since the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim outpost opened in 1997, igniting what became known as the “Bilbao effect.” A demonstration last year in nearby Gernika drew several thousand people, with politician from Bildu and Podemos calling the project “anti-ecological” and “unnecessary.” The regional government previously paused the plan in 2024 amid scrutiny over environmental impact and shifting leadership at the Guggenheim Foundation in New York.