Housing Picasso's iconic masterpiece Guernica, and worth visiting for that alone, the Museo Reina Sofia is home to the national collection of modern and contemporary art.

This collection traces the history of Spanish modern art from its origins in the Basque Country and Catalunya to the present day. As well as much by Picasso there's also outstanding work by Miró and Salvador Dalí.

Guernica

This epic work was painted in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Gernika by the German Condor Legion at the behest of Franco in the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

Commissioned by the Republican government, it was exhibited at the World's Fair in Paris in 1937 and eventually taken to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.