Bilbao

I’ve just got back from Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque Country, northern Spain. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this place and if it wasn’t for professional reasons I’m not sure whether I would have ever visited this city. I remember in the ‘90s the infamous ETA making the news much too often: treacherous attacks and bombings killing innocent people and spreading terror throughout Spain, but mostly in the Basque Country. Not the first choice tourist destination.

But 10-15 years is a long time. Long enough for Bilbao to completely change its image. The city made its fortune during the industrial revolution especially because of its iron resources and shipbuilding industry and kept its industrial tradition for the most part of the last century. But heavy industry is difficult in modern times, so Bilbao has gone through a fantastic metamorphosis that completely changed its image. Major urban developments can be seen everywhere including a brand new transport system that would make London look half a century behind. Iron avant-garde artwork can be seen scattered throughout the city, telling the story of this place. But most of all, it has that European style that I so much love. The old town (Casco Viejo) is just great, with its numerous tapas bars, narrow roads and historical sites. A friend of mine grew up in the region and told me that traditionally people go on a tavern crawl in the evenings having small glasses of wine with pinxtos (very tasty slices of bread served with various ingredients) and singing traditional songs between stops. We did just that and it was fantastic to see all these people in the streets enjoying the evening. We didn’t do the singing part though, but some people were.
One evening I had a guided tour at the world famous Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. It was for the first time that abstract art made a lot of sense and carried a message. The building appears to be designed at random and has a lot of very reflective curves. It’s covered in titanium. The highlight of the permanent collection was a series of massive steel sculptures (with a layer of rust) called “The Matter of Time”. Among the temporary exhibition I’ve seen some work by the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Ignorant as I am, I’ve never heard of him, but apparently he’s quite famous for using gun powder and explosions to create some of his art. Sometimes his work carries a political message, but critics say he’s position is often opportunistic.
One afternoon I went for a long walk along the coast. The sunshine and the sea reminded me how great it is to live in a warmer country. It completely changes one’s perception on life. It didn’t quite change ETA yet, maybe because in Bilbao it rains more than everywhere in Spain. :) But the major investments in this city have definitely had an impact. And I guess this is the long-term solution for social unrest. Give people jobs, entertainment and a better life and they will slowly became rational and sit at the same table with you.
Some more photos here.