Reyes Maroto and Miquel Iceta present Picasso Year at Turespaña's stand at FITUR

Iceta and Maroto have vindicated Picasso's legacy and the importance of his work in a round table discussion, moderated by Carlos Alberdi, commissioner for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso, which will take place on 8 April.

The event was held in the auditorium of the Turespaña stand at FITUR, the leading trade fair for incoming and outgoing markets in Ibero-America organised by Ifema, which this year runs from 18 to 22 January.

The event was also attended by the directors of museums taking part in the official programme and a representative of Turespaña, highlighting the figure of Picasso, a symbol of creativity and a builder of the modern gaze, who projected internationally such universal symbols as Guernica, a collective emblem in the defence of human rights.

It also served to highlight the fact that this is the first tribute to Picasso that Spain has organised in international collaboration, in this case with the Government of France, the two countries joining together in a bi-national commission to develop this programme of international scope, which reflects the validity of the artist's work, delving into previously unpublished aspects of it.

The Musée National Picasso-Paris, which has facilitated a wide distribution of the artist's works, has also contributed to the commemoration of this event with the invaluable generosity of the Musée National Picasso-Paris.

50 exhibitions and events to celebrate Picasso

Fifty exhibitions, congresses, events and other initiatives will celebrate Picasso's artistic heritage in Europe and the US until 2024.

In this way, the public in Spain will be able to follow a route through Picasso's life and work, from the Malaga of his birth to the A Coruña of his childhood and the Barcelona of his training, together with his time at the Academy and above all the Prado Museum in Madrid, destinations to which are also added others such as Bilbao with a large exhibition of sculpture.

The programme Celebración Picasso 1973-2023 started last September, and since then almost 200,000 people have been able to visit the temporary exhibitions that have already opened at the Fundación Mapfre, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Museu Picasso Barcelona.

Since September, exhibitions have also opened internationally to the public in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the United States.

In addition, throughout 2023 the official programme will also be developed in Spain at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía; the Museo Nacional del Prado; the Museo Nacional Thyssen Bornemisza, which will host a second project; the Museo de Belas Artes da Coruña; the Museo Picasso and the Museo Casa Natal de Málaga; the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao; La Casa Encendida in Madrid and in Barcelona, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona and the Museu Picasso de Barcelona, which will also carry out a second project together with the Fundació Joan Miró.

The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 is supported in Spain by Telefónica and, beyond Spain's borders, will be held this year in France, Germany, the US, Romania and the Principality of Monaco.

FITUR, the international tourism fair

FITUR, organised by Ifema, is the major international tourism event in Spain and this year's edition will bring together more than 8,000 exhibiting companies from the five continents, more than 82,000 professionals from the tourism sector and 30,000 visitors.

Tourism is one of the driving forces of the Spanish economy, representing 13% of GDP, and in fact the Government of Spain is strongly committed to its reactivation, so much so that the Recovery Plan, the Modernisation and Competitiveness Plan for the tourism sector, has been allocated €3.4 billion, estimating an impact of some €6.7 billion on GDP.

While 2022 will be remembered as the year of the recovery of tourism after the impact of the pandemic, FITUR now seeks to become the starting signal for a 2023 that will consolidate the recovery and the sector can once again enjoy pre-pandemic figures.

Non official translation