GUERNICA, the masterpiece by Pablo Picasso that symbolises the brutality of war, may be exhibited in the Basque Country for the first time.

A vote in the culture commission of the upper house of the Spanish parliament approved a motion to return the painting to the region.

Basque nationalists and the main conservative opposition Popular Party formed an unlikely alliance to ask the Socialist Government to approve at least a temporary exhibition of the famous work in the Basque Country.

After the recent declaration of a permanent ceasefire by Eta, the Basque separatist organisation, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Prime Minister, is likely to feel that a symbolic gesture would go a long way to healing old divisions between Madrid and the Basques.

Carmen Calvo, the Culture Minister of Spain, claimed, however, that “many technical reports” outlined difficulties in moving the work from the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.

José Ramón Urrutia, a senator for the left-wing Basque party, Eusko Alkartasuna, challenged the claims by Señora Calvo, citing other reports which, he said, proved the painting could be moved.

Señor Urrutia asked: “If we send valuable paintings to other countries for temporary exhibitions, why can’t we send Guernica to Bilbao?” Javier Maqueda, a senator of the Basque Nationalist Party, has asked Ricardo Zugaza, the director of the Prado Museum in Madrid, to support the exhibition.

So far he has declined to become involved.

Supporters of the plan will also ask for the support of the Spanish Royal Society for Fine Arts, which has to approve the movement of national treasures such as Guernica.

The painting was inspired by the bombing in 1937 of the unarmed civilian population of the Basque town that gave it its name, by the German Condor Legion squadron that supported General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The carpet bombing of the traditional Basque capital during a busy market day caused an estimated 1,650 deaths and destroyed the town.

It sparked an international outcry, with Hitler’s forces condemned for their brutality. Picasso, on hearing the news in Paris, where he lived in self-imposed exile, changed a canvas to depict the savagery of war and, in particular, attacks on unarmed civilians.

In Spain, Guernica has come to symbolise democracy because Picasso refused to let his masterpiece return to his own country while Franco was in power.

It finally came to Spain in 1981, six years after Franco’s death and as Spain was in the throes of a transition to democracy after 36 years of dictatorship.

If the Government allows Guernica to be moved to the Basque Country it will be on the 25th anniversary of its return.

“The return of the Guernica was very important for Spain,” said Francisco Calvo Serraller, a professor in the history of art at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and a former director of the Prado Museum.

“Picasso was Spain’s most important political exile and the move to democracy couldn’t be considered complete without the uniting of Picasso with his compatriots.”

Spain is also marking the 125th anniversary of Picasso’s birth with a series of exhibitions across the country.

'STOLEN' GOODS

The Elgin Marbles In 1806 Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, purchased some of the Parthenon’s marble decorations from the Ottoman Turks, the rulers in Athens at the time. They were taken back to Britain. The Greeks still claim to be the rightful owners

L’Olivette Many works of art were stolen from European Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War. Among these was L’Olivette, a £3.3 million sketch by Van Gogh taken from a Polish industrialist. In 1999 a Berlin museum presented the sketch to his family

Stone of Scone Also known as the Stone of Destiny, was used in the coronation of Scottish kings. In 1296 Edward I captured it and brought it to Westminster Abbey. Four Scottish nationalists stole it from the Abbey in 1950 but police recovered it. In 1996 the Government installed the stone in Edinburgh Castle

The Amber Room The room is constructed almost entirely out of amber panels, mirrors and gold leaf, and was given to Tsar Peter the Great in the 18th century. Its panels were looted by the Nazis during the Second World War and have not been seen since