Pablo Picasso from the Catalan independence movement during his youth despite expressing general support and being friendly with activists within it. He did not join the armed forces for any side or country during World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II. As a Spanish citizen living in France, Picasso was under no compulsion to fight against the invading Germans in either world war. However, in 1940, he did apply for French citizenship, but it was refused on the grounds of his "extremist ideas evolving towards communism". This information was not revealed until 2003. At the start of the
Fundación Picasso Museo Picasso Málaga. Those two foundations merged in December 2009 to form the "Fundación Museo Picasso Málaga. Legado Paul, Christine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso" ("Museo Picasso Málaga Foundation. The Paul, Christine and Bernard Ruiz Picasso Legacy"). The foundation was created by the city government of Málaga in 1988. Headquartered since its founding in the "Casa Natal"—declared a Historical-Artistic Monument of National Interest—it later obtained an additional exhibition space at Number 13 of the same plaza in 2005. The facility includes a Picasso documentation center; art collections; a department of cultural promotion, which organizes expositions and conferences; and the Museo Casa Natal.