The President of the European Parliament inaugurated an exhibition of 14 works, open until the 17th, in the busiest area of the EU headquarters. Before an audience of 200 people, Roberta Metsola praised Daimiel-born painter Gómez Cambronero for his ability to remind us what it means to be European.
The exhibition European Unity will remain open for ten days, reaching thousands of people who pass daily through the main hall of the Altiero Spinelli building, the headquarters of the European Parliament’s plenary sessions. MEPs, staff, and ambassadors based in Brussels have already had the chance to observe how a painter from La Mancha envisions Europe: an open continent that faces its challenges, offers solutions, and responds to adversity. European Unity transitions from figurative realism to conceptual art, from precise and exact brushstrokes to blurred lines evoking winter fog or the dazzling light of sunset.
This artistic project is the result of a year spent in a sunny studio in Daimiel, where Gómez Cambronero immersed himself in European and global issues: the fight for rights, humanity’s struggles against hunger, pandemics, and war.
Metsola and Maestre
Two hundred attendees inaugurated the exhibition space, a horseshoe-shaped gallery located in the most frequented area of the building. Introduced by Metsola and Cristina Maestre, the painter remarked: “We often attribute responsibilities to leaders without reflecting on our own actions as citizens. It is also up to us,” he added, “to help refugees and displaced persons, change our habits for the environment, and, above all, promote equality.”
“Solidarity, peace, cooperation, and democracy are our values—the pillars that unite us and allow us to move forward,” said Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament. Metsola highlighted that the importance of Gómez Cambronero’s exhibition lies in its ability to “remind us of who we are as Europeans.”
Cristina Maestre, the MEP who led the exhibition, emphasized that the collection of paintings is “aligned with European values” and described the works as pieces that convey emotions so powerful they “grab you by the throat.”
The event, celebrated at the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels, marked one of the most notable cultural activities of this legislative term. Among the audience were a large group of MEPs from both the Socialist and Popular groups, including Socialist Isabel García Muñoz, PP parliamentary group secretary-general Rosa Estarás, and former Interior Minister and ex-mayor of Seville Juan Ignacio Zoido.
Also present was Daimiel’s mayor and senator for Ciudad Real, Leopoldo Sierra, who led a group of friends and family. As the painter recalled, they “set aside their own concerns on a Tuesday in November to accompany me on a day I could never have dreamed of.”
This dream will not end in Brussels, as European Unity is a project born to travel to other places, perhaps Germany, Sweden, or the United Kingdom. For now, admirers of the artist from these three countries came to join him on the day of his first international exhibition.