In the 1980s Bilbao was a city of closed shipyards, failing blast furnaces and a river turned black with pollution. In 1997 Frank Gehry's Guggenheim opened and the world began talking about the Bilbao effect. Twelve stops between the flower dog guarding the entrance, the museum's titanium skin, the red arches of La Salve bridge, the docks turned into a promenade, the Jesuit university in Deusto, the crane of the last great shipyard, the Abando grid and Norman Foster's metro, the river that flooded the city in 1983, La Ribera market, the medieval Seven Streets, the Plaza Nueva of the iron years and the transporter bridge that has crossed the estuary mouth since 1893. Approximate audio duration: 22 minutes.
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Bilbao: la ciudad del hierro que se reinventó con un museo de titanio
En los años ochenta Bilbao era una ciudad de astilleros cerrados, altos hornos en crisis y una ría negra de contaminación. En 1997 abrió el Guggenheim de Frank Gehry y el mundo empezó a hablar del efecto Bilbao. Doce paradas entre el perro de flores que vigila la entrada, la piel de titanio del museo, los arcos rojos del puente de La Salve, los muelles convertidos en paseo, la universidad de los jesuitas en Deusto, la grúa del último gran astillero, el ensanche de Abando y el metro de Norman Foster, la ría que inundó la ciudad en 1983, el mercado de La Ribera, las Siete Calles medievales, la Plaza Nueva de los años del hierro y el puente colgante que cruza la desembocadura desde 1893. Duración aproximada de audio: 22 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~22 min of audio · 17.96 km on foot (~4 h 30 min walking) · about 5 h in total
You are standing in front of a dog more than twelve metres tall, covered in living flowers. This is Puppy, by the American artist Jeff Koons. Behind it rise the metallic curves of the Guggenheim Museum.
Look closely: this is not a painted sculpture. Inside there is a steel frame with an irrigation system, and outside thousands of plants in pots. The flowers are changed twice a year, in spring and in autumn.
Koons made a first version in 1992 for an exhibition in Germany. The Bilbao one arrived with the museum's opening in 1997. It was meant to be temporary. The people of Bilbao adopted it, a…
2
The Titanium Skin and the Spider
You have come down to the riverbank. Above your head rises a giant spider of bronze and steel. This is Maman, by Louise Bourgeois, more than nine metres tall. Under its belly hangs a sac of marble eggs.
Bourgeois dedicated it to her mother, who restored tapestries in France. For her the spider was no monster: it was a figure that weaves, mends and protects. The museum bought it and installed it here early this century.
Now look up at the building. It was designed by the Canadian American architect Frank Gehry. It was built between 1993 and 1997 and opened by King Juan Carlos I on 18 October …
3
The Bridge That Runs Through the Museum
You are beside La Salve bridge, which crosses the river right over the museum. Notice how the building slips underneath and climbs up again on the other side, into a tower that holds no galleries.
The bridge opened in 1972. When Gehry was given the site, the bridge was already there, with all its traffic and noise. Instead of avoiding it, he wrapped the building around it and turned it into a gateway to the city.
Look at the great red arch framing the deck. It is a work by the French artist Daniel Buren, Red Arches, or Arku gorriak in Basque. It was installed in 2007 to celebrate the museum'…
4
From Cargo Dock to Promenade
You are walking along Abandoibarra, the promenade that follows the river between the Guggenheim and the Euskalduna palace. There is grass, trees, benches and a tram. Thirty years ago, none of this existed.
Here there were cranes, containers, railway sidings and port warehouses. The people of Bilbao could barely get near the water. The river was a work zone, and it smelled bad too.
In the 1980s the crisis arrived. Industrial restructuring closed shipyards and cut back the steel industry. In the area, unemployment rose above twenty per cent. Thousands of families lost the jobs they had always …
5
Deusto, the Jesuits' Bank
You have crossed the footbridge and are on the other bank, in Deusto. In front of you stands a large stone building with a central tower. It is the University of Deusto, looking straight across at the Guggenheim.
The Jesuits founded it in 1886. For decades it was one of the places where Basque lawyers, economists and businessmen were trained. Many of the men who ran Bilbao's banks and industries studied here.
The footbridge you just crossed is named after Pedro Arrupe, a Jesuit born in Bilbao in 1907. In August 1945 he was living on the outskirts of Hiroshima and turned his novitiate into a …
6
The Crane of the Last Shipyard
You are beside a huge red crane, facing the river. This is the Carola, built in 1957 for the Euskalduna shipyard. For decades it lifted heavy parts for the ships assembled on this bank.
Euskalduna was founded in 1900 and became one of Spain's great shipyards. Thousands of people worked here. Merchant ships launched from these slipways sailed all over the world.
There is a story among the workers about its name. They say it was named after a young woman called Carola who crossed the river every day, and that the men stopped work to watch her go by. It is a tale, not a record, but people in Bi…
7
The Grid and Foster's Glass Mouths
You are in Plaza Moyúa, a large ellipse at the heart of the Abando district. Around you stand grand stone buildings, and set into the ground are curious glass entrances shaped like shells.
Abando was an anteiglesia, a rural parish next to Bilbao. When the city ran out of room between the river and the hills, it began to annex it. In 1876 the plan for the Ensanche, the new grid, was approved, drawn up by the engineers Pablo de Alzola and Ernesto Hoffmeyer and the architect Severino de Achúcarro.
Look at the layout: straight streets, wide avenues and this square at the centre. Here moved the m…
8
The River That Overflowed
You are by the river at the Arenal, facing the Arriaga theatre. The building, from 1890, was modelled on the Paris Opera. Across the bridge begins the Old Town.
The theatre is named after Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, a composer born in Bilbao in 1806. He wrote music from childhood, studied in Paris and died there in 1826, just short of his twentieth birthday. He is known as the Spanish Mozart.
Now look at the water. This is not exactly a river: it is a ría, an estuary where the tide rises and falls. The Nervión and its tributaries flow in here, and the sea comes in from the mouth, about fourt…
9
The Market on the Water
You are in front of La Ribera market, a large white building with stained-glass windows, resting on the river's edge. See how the facade looks like a ship moored at the quay.
This spot has been a market since the Middle Ages. Boats came up the estuary with fish, fruit and goods and unloaded them right here, on the riverbank, the ribera. Hence the name.
The current building opened in 1929, designed by the architect Pedro Ispizua. It blends the rationalism of the time with art deco touches. Look at the stained glass over the entrance, with scenes of market life.
With its three floors it came …
10
The Seven Streets and the Cathedral
You are in front of Santiago cathedral, at the heart of the Old Town. Look at the Gothic facade and the tower. Around you, narrow streets and tall houses with iron balconies.
It all began here. On 15 June 1300 the Lord of Biscay, Diego López de Haro, signed the charter that founded the town of Bilbao. It was a small port of merchants beside the estuary.
The original town had three streets. Over time others were added until there were the Seven Streets: Somera, Artecalle, Tendería, Belosticalle, Carnicería Vieja, Barrencalle and Barrencalle Barrena. They run parallel, from the hillside down t…
11
The Square of the Iron Years
You are in the Plaza Nueva, an enclosed neoclassical rectangle with sixty-four arches all around you. Under the arcades there are pintxo bars, and on Sundays a market of stamps, coins and old books.
Building began in 1821 and the square was finished in 1851. One of its buildings now houses Euskaltzaindia, the Royal Academy of the Basque Language.
Think about what happened in Bilbao over the following decades. The nearby hills held iron ore of excellent quality, with very little phosphorus. It was exactly what the new steelmaking method invented in England required.
From the 1870s, millions …
12
The Transporter Bridge at the River Mouth
You are facing the Vizcaya Bridge, between Portugalete and Getxo, where the estuary opens to the sea. Look at the two iron towers and the high girder joining them. Hanging from cables, a gondola crosses the water carrying people and cars.
It was designed by the Basque architect and engineer Alberto de Palacio and opened in 1893. It was the first transporter bridge in the world. It solved a practical problem: linking the two banks without blocking the tall sailing ships heading up to Bilbao.
The towers are about sixty metres high and the span between them about one hundred and sixty. The gird…
How long does the "Bilbao: the City of Iron That Reinvented Itself with a Titanium Museum" audio tour take?
It has about 22 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 17.96 km walking route (~4 h 30 min on foot). Plan roughly 5 h in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "A Dog Made of Flowers at the Door" (coordinates 43.26905, -2.9345). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Bilbao and pick "Bilbao: the City of Iron That Reinvented Itself with a Titanium Museum". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian
