The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, in the group photo for the presentation of the international arts festival, EUROPALIA
Between 8 October 2025 and 1 February 2026, a multidisciplinary programme will be held throughout Belgium, highlighting Spain's cultural wealth, combining heritage with all contemporary art forms, and bringing together both established names and emerging figures.
At the press conference following the event, Minister Albares highlighted Spain's participation in the festival as "a unique opportunity because culture has a double aspect: it is an exceptional instrument to challenge ideas, perceptions and concepts, but it is also what defines us as people and connects our heritage and traditions".
More than a festival
Founded in 1969, EUROPALIA is an international arts festival held every two years in Belgium, each edition focusing on a different country or theme. On each occasion, a multidisciplinary programme covering visual and performing arts, music, film and literature is presented, fostering meaningful cultural exchanges between Belgium and the guest countries.
"When we agreed to co-organise this 30th edition three years ago, we wanted to achieve several objectives," explained the minister, such as "disseminating cultural and linguistic diversity, fostering intercultural dialogue, supporting international mobility of artists and exchanges, and promoting cultural rights as part of human development."
But, he added, "it is also an opportunity to engage in a necessary debate with our citizens, especially about this world, and how to respond to the current trends that are eroding our democracies, particularly in a year in which, in Spain, we are commemorating 50 years since the beginning of the end of the dictatorship and the beginning of our path towards freedom and democracy."
Francisco de Goya, a central figure
The festival will begin with the main exhibition "Light and Shadow. Goya and Spanish Realism" at Bozar, Brussels, from 8 October 2025 to 11 January 2026. Renowned for his impressive portraits and colourful popular scenes, Goya is also characterised by a modernity that incorporates critical images of social issues, including denunciations of the war and abuses of his time.
Alongside his paintings and prints, the exhibition includes works by his contemporaries and later generations (such as José Gutiérrez Solana, Pablo Picasso, Antonio Saura, among others), as well as new multidisciplinary creations by artists such as Asunción Molinos Gordo (visual artist), Francisco Lopez (sound artist), Albert Serra (filmmaker) and contemporary Spanish and Belgian writers, which demonstrate the relevance of Goya's legacy.
In addition, Goya's three famous series of engravings, Caprichos, Disparates and Desastres de la Guerra, have inspired the EUROPALIA-SPAIN programme as a whole, connecting past and present, local and global.
Other highlights
Other artistic highlights included in the EUROPALIA-ESPAÑA programme include avant-garde performances by Candela Capitán, a selection of contemporary flamenco curated by Pedro G. Romero, major productions such as Afanador and 1936, and other more intimate and unique projects such as those of the t e r i t o r y festival.
The participating artists come from all over Spain, representing a diversity of regions, generations and perspectives. Many of them will engage in creative dialogue with artists from Belgium and other countries.
Examples include: Suso Saiz with Echo Collective, the performers of Chapters of Celebrations by Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, Wouter Deltour and B'Rock Orchestra (co-produced with DE SINGEL), and the four Spanish dancers and musicians of Pick Up Club (co-produced with Charleroi Danse), who will meet four Belgian-based artists in an original "blind date" format.
Non official translation