Bilbao (sometimes referred to as
Bilbo) is located in the North of
Spain and is the largest city in the
Basque Country. It is the capital of the
province of Biscay (Basque:
Bizkaia).
The city has over 354,000 inhabitants and is the most economically and industrially active part of Greater
Bilbao, the zone in which almost half of the
Basque Country’s population lives. Greater
Bilbao’s inhabitants are spread along the length of the Nervion River, whose banks are home also to numerous business and factories, which during the industrial revolution brought heightened prosperity to the region.
As well as the famous
Guggenheim Museum, the city acts as home for the
Fine Arts Museum recognised as one of
Spain’s finest art museums and recently refurbished) and the Maritime Museum on the Nervion’s banks, which recently hosted the RMS Titanic exhibition which has been touring Europe.
Since the inauguration of the
Guggenheim museum in 1997, eight new hotels have been opened in the city, reflecting the increasing interest for
Bilbao.