Thirty countries will take part in the Ministerial Conference on Palestinian Culture organised by Spain and Palestine

The Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and the Palestinian Ambassador to Spain, Husni Abdel Wahed, have held a press conference to present theMinisterial Conference on Palestinian Culture, which will take place in Madrid on 15 and 16 July 2026, organised by the Spanish and Palestinian Ministries of Culture. The participating countries include Poland, Luxembourg, Greece, Portugal, France, Austria, Uruguay, Mexico, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Mauritania, along with organisations such as UNESCO and the Arab League.

This conference, which 30 ministerial delegations have confirmed they will attend, aims to establish an international alliance for Palestinian culture in order to promote coordinated action to protect its cultural sector and cultural heritage. Specifically, it will provide a direct forum for dialogue between Ministers for Culture to develop ways of collaborating with the Palestinian cultural sector, enabling a response to the impact that the genocide is having on it, in its human, material and intangible dimensions.

The Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has stated that "Spain and Palestine share the conviction that culture can be a space for encounter, remembrance and peace, and this conference is precisely an invitation to the international community to listen to the Palestinian people, address their priorities and commit to concrete actions".

Furthermore, Urtasun added that "we cannot accept as normal the fact that this first Conference for Palestinian Culture is being held in Madrid rather than on Palestinian territory, where it ought to be taking place." "The Government of Spain is working, and will continue to work, to ensure that peace and the viability of the Palestinian State are ultimately consolidated, so that the second edition of this Conference can take place in the homeland of all Palestinians."

For his part, the Palestinian Ambassador to Spain, Husni Abdel Wahed, has stated that "what better way than through culture to build bridges of understanding between peoples, especially at a time like this when hatred, rejection and fear of the 'other' - of those who are different - are rife." "Culture enables us to get to know one another, and through it both hatred and fear are dispelled." He went on to say that "Palestinian culture is a millennia-old, extremely rich culture that has been the constant target of attempts at total destruction." "The Palestinian people are part of humanity; what is happening in Palestine cannot be treated as something alien or distant."

On Wednesday 15 July, the Prado Museum will host the opening of this conference, which will feature addresses by the Spanish and Palestinian Ministers for Culture, Ernest Urtasun and Emad Hamdan, as well as the participation of prominent figures from the world of culture and artistic performances.

The meetings between the ministerial delegations will take place on Thursday 16 July at the Reina Sofía National Art Museum. These meetings will address a range of issues based on seven key themes: priorities for the cultural protection of Palestine; the protection of artists and creators; the protection of cultural heritage; art and literature as tools for community resilience, recovery and reconstruction; cinema as a record of the Palestinian collective memory; the transformation and protection of Palestinian cultural heritage through archiving, accessibility and sustainability; and funding for the cultural sector and international partnerships for the cultural reconstruction of Palestine.

This ministerial meeting will conclude with a final declaration - a call to action setting out the priorities, models of cooperation and specific commitments agreed upon during the meeting.

In this regard, Urtasun stated that "Madrid must mark a turning point in building a lasting alliance to protect, restore and promote Palestinian culture for the future." He emphasised that "the cultural reconstruction of Palestine is not a secondary issue, but an essential prerequisite for the Palestinian people to be able to rebuild their collective lives with dignity, rights and a future."

Citizens' Forum

Ahead of the Ministerial Conference, the Spanish Ministry of Culture is organising the Citizens' Forum for Palestinian Culture, which will take place on 14 and 15 July at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum and the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.

It is a civil society space open to the public, where cultural projects and cooperation programmes with Palestine will be presented. The programme consists of round-table discussions and artistic performances in which artists, cultural and heritage professionals, experts, activists and international organisations will reflect on and share experiences, projects and cooperation programmes.

Participants include the director of the Palestinian Museum, Amer Shomali; the director of development at the RIWAQ Centre, Hebah Omari; a representative from Al-Haq; the director of The Palestinian Circus, Mohammed Rabah; the artist Faisal Abu Alhayjaa from The Freedom Theatre; the painter Rafat Asad and the writer Karim Kattam, amongst others. Representatives from the TEJA Network, Novact, UNRWA, Casa Árabe, the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies, CIDOB and the Finestres bookshop, amongst others, will also take part in the Citizens' Forum.

Defence of Palestinian culture

This Ministerial Conference was announced by the Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Culture of the European Union held in Brussels in November 2025. For the first time, and at Spain's request, the Council of Ministers for Culture of the European Union discussed the reconstruction of Palestine's cultural heritage. During that meeting, Ernest Urtasun also called on the other EU countries to support the formation of an alliance for the reconstruction of Palestine, modelled on the alliance set up for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

This initiative continues the Ministry of Culture's ongoing efforts to support Palestinian culture. In addition to a 200,000 euro contribution to the UNESCO fund for the reconstruction of Gaza, the Ministry of Culture has carried out various initiatives in collaboration with UNRWA - the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees - aimed at supporting Gaza and denouncing the Israeli genocide. Furthermore, the Ministry of Culture contributes 100,000 euros annually to the TEJA programme, an international cultural solidarity network that provides support to artists and cultural professionals in emergency situations. Through this support, Palestinian artists travel to Spain for artistic residencies.

Non official translation