The National Police intercepted a bold, pre-announced protest plan targeting the NATO summit in Madrid. Activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Youth for Climate aimed to enter the Prado Museum and stage a demonstration against the political-military alliance gathering, signaling their action to a global audience before the world leaders convened.
According to the investigation by Prensa Ibérica and the CASO ABIERTO channel, the group intended to enter the exhibition space during the summit. They chose Las Meninas, Velázquez’s iconic painting, as the focal point for a potential non-violent action, a location already associated with a gala dinner of heads of government photographed on a Wednesday evening.
One woman, 40 tickets
Security forces from the Information and Citizen Security Brigade executed the operation on Thursday, April 23. The activists initially planned to reach the Prado during the NATO summit, but they moved the timetable forward by several days to avoid a massive security deployment. In the end, their plans did not come to fruition.
Police sources described how a single woman purchased 40 museum entries and how a distributed device helped to map where and when the 21 identified activists could have entered the Prado. While deputies searched, they found masks, banners, and, according to some reports, cans of paint among the items the group carried.
Plan
Police reports indicate XR’s plan involved dividing into small teams to circulate around the museum and, ultimately, to stage a peaceful action in the Las Meninas room. With the Prado already under tight guard and with a permanent police presence inside the museum, the group’s objective faced immediate obstacles. Still, the overturning reality of surveillance did not fully deter the activists from continuing to seek openings for action.
Days later, a different opportunity arose. On Monday, the 27th, about thirty XR members managed to enter the Reina Sofía museum and stage a provocative performance in the Picasso room, specifically in the space dedicated to Guernica. Participants laid on the floor as if pretending to be dead, while four protesters dressed in gala attire raised banners declaring that war erodes culture and that the masters of warfare will meet in the very heart of the museum.
XR protest visuals at the Reina Sofía Museum were captured by EUROPEAN PRESS and circulated as part of ongoing coverage of environmental activism in Spain.
Extinction Rebellion, commonly known as XR, is an environmental movement that formed to confront climate change and political inertia. Established on 7 October 2019 in England, the group earned notoriety when hundreds of supporters disrupted air travel operations at London’s airports, a symbol of their willingness to take bold action. Their emblem is an hourglass, and their rallying cry centers on framing time as the critical factor in addressing climate risks. XR has often positioned itself as distinct from other groups such as Ecologistes en Action and Greenpeace, while noting they consider themselves part of a broader chorus of climate advocacy.
Starlings
The movement’s first public footprint in Spain appeared during the Madrid climate summit in December 2019. A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion in Spain later commented to EL PERIÓDICO, emphasizing the non-violent nature of their actions while acknowledging ongoing police inquiries. The spokesperson asserted that XR follows non-violent direct actions, even as followers were urged to acknowledge the consequences of civil disobedience.
Police sources have described XR as well organized and coordinated, often communicating via Telegram. The so-called starling model describes a chain of command where an ideologue helps prepare participants, and a designated person provides day-of-action instructions. This system is said to aim at transparency, security, and discretion in execution, reflecting a modern approach to collective civil resistance.