The Velázquez Palace in the Retiro Park has just reopened after being closed for more than two years for renovations, and it does so as a renovated exhibition venue for the Reina Sofía Museum with its first exhibition dedicated to the Madrid-based artist Fernando Sánchez Castillo. The exhibition runs from June 24, 2026, to March 8, 2027, and marks the return to activity of one of the park’s most distinctive buildings.
The Velázquez Palace is one of the two historic pavilions in the Retiro Park managed by the Reina Sofía Museum (along with the Crystal Palace), designed by architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco and built in 1883 as a pavilion for the National Mining Exhibition. Since the late 1980s, it has served as a venue for temporary contemporary art exhibitions, but it has been closed for renovation since 2024. According to information from City Hall, it was originally scheduled to reopen in late 2025, but the reopening has been postponed until mid-2026.
The renovation has served to modernize the facilities, improve climate control and accessibility, and ensure better conservation conditions for the works on display.
The first exhibition: The Wandering Pearl
The opening of the new Palacio de Velázquez coincides with *La perla peregrina*, an exhibition dedicated to the work of Fernando Sánchez Castillo, one of the most prominent Madrid-based artists of his generation. The exhibition is conceived as a reflection on power, memory, and the symbolic construction of history through sculptures, installations, and works that engage with monuments, busts, and objects laden with political significance.
The project makes use of the Palacio de Velázquez’s vast interior space to showcase works of considerable scale, spatial interventions, and a visitor route that encourages viewers to see both the historical icons and the architectural setting itself in a new light.
