The Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, one of Spain’s top art museums, said on Monday that it was seeking an investigation into a widely publicized incident involving visitors who came to the museum with Stars of David and Israeli flags.
Video of the incident went viral after being published by Okdiario, a conservative Spanish publication. In the video, security officers appear to call for the removal of three women from the museum. As they begin the process of escorting the women out, one officer says that “some members of the public are being bothered” by these visitors.
Okdiario reported that before the incident, which the publication termed “racist harassment,” other visitors had shouted phrases such as “genocidal maniacs” at these women. The video, which runs nearly a minute and a half, does not show what preceded this incident. ARTnews could not independently confirm Okdiario’s account, which stated that the women were tourists from Israel.
The incident was also covered by conservative Israeli outlets such as Ynetnews, which also reported that the women were Israeli tourists.
Some Israeli politicians issued statements about the incident. On X, Dana Ehrlich, an Israeli ambassador to Spain, wrote, “We have seen how three Jewish women, with a Star of David and an Israeli flag, were expelled from a museum in Madrid for carrying those symbols.” Her post also stated that the Israeli flag “represents thousands of years of history of the Jewish people.”
In an X post that has gained more than 4,000 likes, the European Jewish Congress called the incident “troubling and unacceptable.” Moreover, the European Jewish Congress claimed that the incident “raises serious concerns about discrimination within a public cultural institution.”
A Museo Reina Sofía spokesperson told ARTnews that it had called for the security department to investigate the incident.
“Furthermore,” the museum said in a statement, “the Museum wishes to state unequivocally its commitment to equality, religious freedom, and zero tolerance toward any form of violence or discrimination related to antisemitism. The Museum’s staff is highly trained in fundamental rights, conflict management, and the prevention of any type of discrimination.”
The statement continued, “Once again, we wish to highlight the importance that both Jewish artists and Jewish patrons and benefactors have had for the institution and its Collection—particularly within the avant-garde movements—without whose selfless collaboration the Museum as we know it today would not be conceivable.”
This is not the first time that Israeli organizations have denounced the Museo Reina Sofía, an institution with a rich collection of modern and contemporary art that is best known for displaying Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.
In 2024, the museum faced controversy for organizing a program of lectures and events called “From the River to the Sea,” a reference to a slogan used by some protestors calling for equal rights for Palestinians. Certain Israeli officials have called the slogan antisemitic. Following an outcry over the usage of the word “genocidal” in the program’s description, the museum changed the name of the program to “Critical Thinking Gatherings” and apologized.
