Iron River
From iron to titanium
Industrial and mining tourism in western Bizkaia
The area surrounding the Nervión-Ibaizabal estuary was home to one of the largest concentrations of industrial activity in Europe, contributing to building the current hallmarks of Bizkaia and Basque identity.
The industrial heritage on both sides of the estuary, combined with the heritage in the mining area and Enkarterri, bears silent witness to what was in its day a setting of intense industrial and mining activity.
The adaptation of the estuary for navigability was the biggest enterprise undertaken in Bizkaia in the last fourth of the 19th century.
The needs generated by iron ore exports required channelling and dredging the riverbed and eliminating the dangerous sandbar that formed at the inlet, since removed thanks to the Iron Jetty in Portugalete.
The industrial development of the estuary couldn’t be explained without the industrial bourgeois class, who lived in luxurious villas in Getxo, and the thousands of working families who lived along the left bank of the river.
Led by companies like Euskalduna and La Naval, the shipbuilding industry turned the Nervión-Ibaizabal estuary into the backbone of Bizkaia with the trade of goods and raw materials.
We have prepared these routes to help you discover and get a better understanding of the progress of this place, which also offers other sights like the villas and cities, heritage, art, traditions and internationally renowned cuisine.
Ongi etorri.
Route 10. Lea-Artibai
Route 9: From Bilbao, along the right bank of the estuary, to Erandio and Leioa
Route 8. Karrantza and Dolomitas del Norte
Route 7. Balmaseda and La Encartada Fabrika Museoa
Route 6. Barbadun and Itsaslur: Iron, Water and Sea
6.b. Iron and Water: on the Banks of the Barbadun river
Route 6. Barbadun and Itsaslur: Iron, Water and Sea
6.a. Iron and the Sea: Pobeña to Kobaron Greenway
Route 5. Meatzaldea: Iron and Mountains
5.b. Basque Country Mining Museum and Bodovalle Mine
Route 5. Meatzaldea: Iron and Mountains
5.a. Larreineta Funicular and the Mining Town of La Arboleda
Route 4. The Grand Villas of Getxo
Route 3. Portugalete, Santurtzi and Zierbena
Route 2. Barakaldo and Sestao: Factory Towns
Route 1. Bilbao, Port Before City
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Route 1. Bilbao, Port Before City
A port and industrial past and a transformative present
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Route 2. Barakaldo and Sestao: Factory Towns
Barakaldo and Sestao were key components in the history of industrialisation in Bizkaia
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Route 3. Portugalete, Santurtzi and Zierbena
The Mouth of the Estuary and the Bay of Abra
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Route 4. The Grand Villas of Getxo
Two Banks... Two Worlds
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Route 5. Meatzaldea: Iron and Mountains 5.a. Larreineta Funicular and the Mining Town of La Arboleda
A truly unique recovered landscape that surprises everyone who visits It
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Route 5. Meatzaldea: Iron and Mountains 5.b. Basque Country Mining Museum and Bodovalle Mine
Bodavalle was the second largest iron mine in Europe with 50 km of excavated tunnels.
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Route 6. Barbadun and Itsaslur: Iron, Water and Sea 6.a. Iron and the Sea: Pobeña to Kobaron Greenway
When it passes through Muskiz, on the border with Cantabria, the Way of St. James coincides with one of the most beautiful coastal areas of Bizkaia.
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Route 6. Barbadun and Itsaslur: Iron, Water and Sea 6.b. Iron and Water: on the Banks of the Barbadun river
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Route 7. Balmaseda and La Encartada Fabrika Museoa
A living treasure unlike anything of its kind
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Route 8. Karrantza and Dolomitas del Norte
Caves, Adventure and Dolmitas
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Route 9: From Bilbao, along the right bank of the estuary, to Erandio and Leioa
From Bilbao, towards Erandio and Leioa.
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Route 10. Lea-Artibai
Industrial landscape of the Lea River.