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Bilbao
ways
Art attack
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BEYOND THE GUGGENHEIM
Bilbao’s rags-to-riches story is not unique
among cities, but it might be the most
dramatic. Until the late 1990s, this was a
sleepy but successful port and neighbour to
chichi San Sebastián to the east. And then
came the Guggenheim and everything
changed; at first it was just the art-curious,
who would come and marvel at Jeff Koons’
12-metre-high kitsch flower sculpture,
Puppy, before heading inside for their fill of
Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Cindy
Sherman, Anselm Kiefer and just about
every other major name of the late 20th
century. As word spread and the city’s
facilities improved, Bilbao became a major
tourist destination, and hotels and
restaurants began to spring up.
But this is only half the story. Bilbao
already had its fair share of attractions, and
among them was an overlooked but worldclass collection of fine arts in the unsung
Museo de Bellas Artes (museobilbao.com).
As César Ochoa, who works in the
museum’s education department, says, “It
offers a broad overview of artistic styles
from Gothic times to the present day,
focusing on works from the Flemish school
and, of course, Spanish artists.”
The collection runs to more than 10,000
pieces, and includes paintings by Goya,
Zurbarán and other Spanish masters, as
well as works by El Greco, Paul Cézanne,
Paul Gauguin, Robert Delaunay, Francis
Bacon and many more.
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Architectural extravagance
2
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
The Guggenheim
(guggenheim.org/bilbao) was
about more than its art, of
course. Its major appeal was
Frank Gehry’s titanium-clad
building, a wildly ambitious
tumble of shapes that pay
homage to the city’s industry
and shipping, and a nod to
fishing with an exterior that
seems to be armoured with
oversized scales. The vastly
tall atrium pays its respects to
Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous
rotunda in the original
Guggenheim in New York and
the entire building, according
to local architect Josep Egea,
“…can bring about a new
experience, whether it is
through a never-before
revealed detail, a small hidden
corner where light bounces
back and forth through its
multiple layers, or the
sensation of spaces contained
“Marvel at
Jeff Koons’
12-metrehigh kitsch
flower
sculpture”
within other spaces.”
Again, this is only part
of the picture. Most visitors
will have already witnessed
Santiago Calatrava’s airport
building, a vast gleaming
white insect crouched in the
hills outside the city. As
Egea puts it, “It is difficult to
find a city in Europe that
has undergone a
transformation of this
magnitude in such a short
period of time.” Sir Norman
Foster was drafted in to
create light-hearted,
futuristic metro entrances
(delightfully known as
‘fosteritos’), Philippe Starck
took part in the funky
repurposing of the
Alhóndiga warehouse into a
leisure centre and Arata
Isozaki created the stunning
residential complex that
now bears his name.
Photo’s: Imageselect and AGB/Shutterstock
The beautiful Basque Country city
is a new KLM destination
WORDS: SALLY DAVIES
TRAVEL SPAIN
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TRAVEL SPAIN
“There is
great music
everywhere:
the beach,
the
streets…
the buzz is
incredible”
Take a hike
3
GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND
The dramatic coastline and
rolling hills of the Basque
Country make for some great
walking near the city, and
fairly steady rainfall ensures a
verdant landscape year-round.
Stuart Butler, author of Lonely
Planet’s guide Hiking in Spain,
recommends that those
travelling with kids,
particularly, should head for
the Bosque de Oma (Oma
Forest), near Guernica (the
Guernica immortalised in
Picasso’s painting of the same
name), for an easy two-hour
round-trip. The walk winds
through tree trunks painted
in rainbow colours and
adorned with eyes by local
artist Agustín Ibarrola.
But, says Butler, for some
real mountain hiking, the
Parque Natural de Urkiola,
marked by the jagged
limestone ridges and peaks
that dominate the countryside
to the east of the city, “offers
shepherds’ pastures, limestone
landscapes and a nervewracking scramble to the
sheer-sided summit of Anboto
(1,331m). Even if you haven’t
got the nerve to make the final
push right to the summit of
Anboto, the views over the
coastal plains and rolls of
mountains are worth all the
huffing and puffing.”
As an alternative, he also
recommends the Parque
Natural de Gorbeia, where
you can either climb Gorbeia
itself (1,482m), “or the
perhaps more rewarding
Itxina massif, with its flower
meadows, beech forests and
high pastures. All of these are
accessed via Atxular’s Eye, a
natural rock gateway.”
“The walk
winds
through
tree
trunks
painted in
rainbow
colours”
Get out
4
DAY TRIP TO SAN SEBASTIÁN
Funicular
fun
Take the rickety funicular
train up to the top of
the hill of Artxanda for
a sweeping view over
Bilbao and the
surrounding countryside.
After a couple of days amid Bilbao’s
edgy architecture and urban bustle,
head to the wonderfully elegant resort
of San Sebastián, which Gabriella
Ranelli, owner of Tenedor Tours
(tenedortours.com), describes as “the
grande dame to Bilbao’s brash young
Turk.” Its gastronomic clout is well
known – San Sebastián famously has
the highest number of Michelin stars
per capita of anywhere in the world –
and Ranelli describes the city as the
birthplace both of the pintxo and what
is known as New Basque Cuisine.
She herself runs food and wine
tours, but she insists it is, “more than
just a pintxo route”. She waxes lyrical
about the quirky boutiques (“They have
personality!”); its graceful bay, La
Concha; its saltwater spa, La Perla, down
on the beachfront; and, above all, its
many festivals.
“Come when the jazz festival is on in
July,” she advises. “There is great music
everywhere – the beach, the streets… the
buzz is incredible.” She also recommends
the seven-day firework competition in
August as part of the Semana Grande
festivities, and, of course, the film
festival in September, when, in addition
to the increased chances of bumping into
Johnny Depp, you can also catch indie
films that won’t get widely distributed.
San Sebastián also has its fair share
of museums. Prime among them is the
Museo de San Telmo (santelmomuseoa.
com), which is housed in a former
convent. Ranelli recommends seeing the
17 canvases by José María Sert, which
have been recently restored (“they are
now amazing,” she says), and hang on
the walls of the chapel, telling the
history of San Sebastián.
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TRAVEL SPAIN
“The Basque
Country is
the powerhouse
of Spanish
gastronomy”
Glorious food
5
THE WORLD’S BEST?
Prior to the 1970s, Spanish cuisine had
changed little in hundreds of years.
Then a group of talented Basque chefs
led by Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro
Subijana started a culinary revolution
that would ultimately pave the way for
Ferran Adrià to
create ‘the best
restaurant in the
world’ on the
Costa Brava 30
years later. But it
is still the Basque
Country that
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is considered the powerhouse of
gastronomy, and this permeates at every
level of society and at every age.
“As children we were taught to eat
before we were taught to walk,” says
Martín Berasategui, holder of three
Michelin stars at his eponymous
restaurant in Lasarte, an hour’s drive
away, and three others at various
restaurants around the country.
Happily, the region’s dense constellation
of stars doesn’t mean that excellent food
is only for those with deep pockets. For
around a euro, you can get a morsel of
fine-dining in almost any bar. These,
the Basque take on tapas, come on a
slice of French bread and are called
‘pintxos’, after the little spear (usually a
toothpick) that holds them together.
Bilbao is so proud of its pintxos,
that the fiercely contested
‘Concurso de Pintxos’ has
been running for 16
years. This annual competition awards
gold, silver and bronze not only to
establishments, but also to particular
pintxos – ask at the tourist office for a
copy of the leaflet detailing the entrants
for the previous year’s prize. Many of
these bars will be on or around the
arcaded Plaza Nueva, which is a good
starting point.
adv
Bilbao
Spain
Getting there
From 26 May, KLM will operate
daily non-stop flights to Bilbao
Airport from Amsterdam Airport
Schiphol. For tourist information,
see bilbaotourismo.net.
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