Bilbao and its port

Bilbao

Bilbao, located in the centre of what is known as the Atlantic Arc, is a town boasting a long and rich maritime tradition with more than 700 years of history behind it. From the end of the 19th century, with the great spread of industrial and port activities, shipbuilding and shipping companies began to grow around the Port. These were later followed by stevedoring companies, consignees, auxiliary services, forwarders, logistics operators and a whole series of providers of different services which have led to the maritime-port industry having an enormous influence in the economy of the region, and by extension, in the Basque Country as a whole.

La Growing port activity and the need for docks and port spaces to be adapted, on the one hand, to increasing vessel size, and on the other, to new logistics demands, made the development of the Port in the Outer Abra advisable.

Thus the Port and its complementary industry, handed the old docks over to the town for the creation of new spaces to be devoted to culture and to leisure, and for service industries to emerge.

The port of Bilbao

More than 200 companies and 5,000 people form the port – maritime sector in Bilbao and make of it the most important multimodal centre on the North of the Iberian Peninsula.

Geographic position

Latitude: 43º 22´ 43" N / Longitude: 03º 04´ 57" W

The port of Bilbao, located on the far east side of the Bay of Biscay, is within what is called the European Atlantic Arc. Its geographic position marks it as a link to the American Continent, Northern Europe, Africa and the East, and it is especially prepared for trade with countries in the European Atlantic Face, the British Isles and the Baltic sea.

The port of Bilbao, together with its companies, makes up a goods distribution centre of continental interest, located in a metropolitan environment with one million inhabitants, and 16 million within a 400-kilometre radius. It is also an undeniable route towards the European market in the Atlantic Arc.