RNE, 05.03.2026

We head to ARCOmadrid, Spain’s premier contemporary art event, which is celebrating its 45th edition at IFEMA with over 200 galleries from 30 countries taking part. From the Radio Nacional de España stand, we trace the journey a work of art takes from the moment it is created in the artist’s studio until it reaches a collector.

To understand this process, we spoke to three key figures from each of these stages: the artist Eduardo Lalanne, who is presenting his geometric and minimalist abstract work at the fair; gallery owner Alejandro de Villota, founder and director of Galería Memoria, a space focused on curatorial research and dialogue with Latin American art scenes; and Elisa Hernando, director of Arte Global and head of the First Collector programme, supported by the Banco Santander Foundation, which offers free, personalised advice to those wishing to start collecting contemporary art.

We spoke with them about how collecting has evolved in Spain, the role galleries play in an artist’s career development, and what happens when someone decides to buy a work for the first time at a fair such as ARCO. We also addressed issues such as the profile of new buyers, advice for those approaching the art market for the first time, and some of the challenges facing the sector, such as taxation and the internationalisation of galleries.