Active listening process
On February 14, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Basque Government presented the active listening process for Busturialdea and Urdaibai in Gernika-Lumo.
The Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform wants to express its caution regarding the start of an active listening process about the Guggenheim Urdaibai project. The process, which comes from the Lehendakari Agirre Center and is commissioned by the Provincial Government of Bizkaia alongside the Basque Government, comes very late and without guarantees, and we have communicated this to the relevant parties at the center.
We positively assess the initiative of creating a space for dialogue where citizens can express their opinions and concerns, but we also want to emphasize that the intention is to ask for opinions on a project that, to date, has not been made public, and without knowing what its environmental impact assessment is.
Invitation to Participate in the Urdaibai Strategic Plan
On June 26, 2024, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop Platform received an invitation to participate in the Urdaibai Strategic Plan.
BEAZ entrusted the initial phase of the work to Orkestra – the Basque Institute of Competitiveness, which subsequently contacted us (Orkestra is an initiative of Deusto University, carried out through the Deusto Foundation). They proposed an interview based on a closed script of six questions to understand “how various stakeholders and mayors perceive the region.”
Resolution on the PALAFITIC Project (a wooden walkway on high wooden posts), Part of the Larger Initiative
On October 17, a resolution was issued regarding the palafitic project, which is part of the Guggenheim Urdaibai initiative.
MITECO (The Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition) has denied the concession to occupy public domain lands within the maritime-terrestrial area, granting the previous owners of these plots the opportunity to initiate procedures. These owners had become holders of an occupancy concession for the plots. Consequently, they currently have priority for land occupation.
The Basque Government has not secured the availability of the plots where the palafitic project is planned, and it has therefore withdrawn from the public procurement process for the project.
The procedure has not been suspended; it has been concluded without awarding the contract to any party. To proceed with the procurement, the process would need to start from scratch.
Meeting with Eneko Andueza (Leader of the PSE, Socialist Party of Euskadi
On October 3, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop citizens’ platform held a meeting with Eneko Andueza, the Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Euskadi.
We expressed our concerns about the ambiguity that the Socialist Party has publicly demonstrated regarding the project.
They conveyed a lack of knowledge about the project and an absence of information. They see the need to understand the project in order to assess it and define their position, but in the meantime, they are in favor of taking steps forward. As they have publicly stated, they need to understand the project’s scale, which must also comply with legal standards. They contextualize the €40 million obtained from the Spanish Government as part of the restoration of the Biosphere Reserve.
They consider the Guggenheim Foundation to be the source of the necessary information and are awaiting a meeting with whoever will succeed Vidarte (Miren Arzallus has since been confirmed as his successor).
Meeting with Elixabete Etxanobe (EAJ, Basque Nationalist Party and President of the Bizkaia Provincial Assembly)
On September 10, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop citizens’ platform held a meeting with Elixabete Etxanobe Landajue, Chief Executive of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. We are grateful for accepting the meeting requested by the Platform.
Our objectives were very clear. On the one hand, we provided a brief introduction to the Platform and clarified our main goal: to definitively shelve the Guggenheim Urdaibai project. It was also important for us to express our desire to be treated with respect. The Platform will not tolerate being misrepresented or having statements attributed to us that we did not make. Every step we take is based on clear and public evidence.
We laid out all our concerns and shared some of the questions that these concerns raise for us.
Invitation to Participate in the Urdaibai Strategic Plan
On June 26, 2024, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop Platform received an invitation to participate in the Urdaibai Strategic Plan.
BEAZ entrusted the initial phase of the work to Orkestra – the Basque Institute of Competitiveness, which subsequently contacted us (Orkestra is an initiative of Deusto University, carried out through the Deusto Foundation). They proposed an interview based on a closed script of six questions to understand “how various stakeholders and mayors perceive the region.”
Response to Elixabete Etxanobe
The President of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia has not spoken truthfully. The Guggenheim Urdaibai STOP platform denounces inaccuracies in statements made by Elixabete Etxanobe on Radio Euskadi’s Boulevard program on July 17 regarding the Guggenheim Urdaibai project.
Although it was not the topic of discussion, she repeatedly claimed that it is “irresponsible” to demand the cancellation of the project. According to her, opponents of the project allegedly do not want the “contaminated soils and aquifer of Gernika to be restored” or to eliminate “heavy industry like the Murueta shipyard.”
Etxanobe’s remarks represent a high level of misinformation, which is unacceptable. As she well knows, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform supports and will continue to support the restoration of polluted soils and aquifers in Gernika. We have consistently communicated this position in public and to the media. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate and a deliberate lie.
INTERNATIONAL Signature Collection with SEO/BirdLife
International signatures in support of conserving the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve.
SEO/BirdLife and the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop citizens’ platform have launched an international signature collection campaign to request that the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation abandon plans that could lead to the destruction of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. The aim is to gather 1,300,000 signatures—a symbolic figure representing the annual number of visitors to the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.
Demolition in Gernika of the DALIA cutlery factory which had been closed for years
On June 13, 2024, we confirmed that the demolition of the old Dalia factory in Gernika had already begun. This site has been chosen by the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum Foundation and the authorities of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia as the location for one of the two facilities included in the Guggenheim Urdaibai project.
The Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop Platform strongly and loudly condemns this action: the demolition of Dalia has begun. This demolition clearly demonstrates that the new governance model they have been trying to sell to us is nothing but empty promises.
Appeal Against the Amendment to the Coastal Law Requested by BFA
On January 19, the Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop platform filed an appeal with the National Court regarding the review of the delimitation of the public maritime-terrestrial domain.
The Ministerial Order of October 19, 2023, reduces the protection zone of the coastal section currently occupied by the shipyard Astilleros Murueta SA from 100 meters to 20 meters. For this reason, the platform opposing the project has filed an appeal against the Ministerial Order in the administrative court, seeking its annulment and a declaration reinstating the 100-meter protection zone as provided by the Coastal Law of July 28, 1988 (Law 22/1988).
