Bilbao history

Bilbao is Spain's sixth largest city, its biggest port and the main industrial centre in the north of the country. Bilbao is also the largest and busiest city in the Basque region and was the seat of the Basque autonomous government in the Spanish Civil War, from 1936 until its capture by the Nationalists the year after.

Bilbao was established as a city on 15 June 1300, but it was the industrial era of the 19th and 20th centuries that brought it wealth and affluence and allowed the development of a prosperous modern city. Shipbuilding and iron and steel production have been among its most important industries.

Business was good for Bilbao up until the last decades of the 20th century, when industrial decline set in. A deep economic crisis developed but after investing heavily in tourism, culture and environmental and urban regeneration, Bilbao managed to turn itself around and become a world-famous success story.