Two activists from the climate group Futuro Vegetal were arrested on October 12 after throwing biodegradable red paint on José Garnelo’s 1892 painting *First Tribute to Christopher Columbus* at the Naval Museum in Madrid. The protest occurred on Spain’s National Day, which commemorates Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. The activists unfurled a banner reading “October 12, nothing to celebrate. Ecosocial justice,” and were charged with crimes against cultural heritage. Separately, about 20 activists from Marea Palestina staged a sit-in around Picasso’s *Guernica* at the Reina Sofía Museum, demanding an end to “the genocide against the Palestinian people.”
The incident matters because it highlights the ongoing tension between official national celebrations and critical perspectives on colonial history, particularly in Spain and across the Spanish-speaking world. The protests also reflect a growing trend of activists targeting cultural heritage sites and artworks to draw attention to broader political and environmental issues, raising questions about the role of museums in contested public memory and the limits of protest in cultural spaces.