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Barakaldo
«Barakaldo es una ciudad industrial cerca de Bilbao.»Barakaldo is an industrial city near Bilbao.
Barakaldo borders Bilbao on the left bank of the estuary and for a century was the city of Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, the largest steel company in Spain. After the blast furnaces closed in the nineties, the riverbank was completely rebuilt with new parks and neighbourhoods.
Did you know
Where steelworks once stood, concerts play
The enormous area of the former Altos Hornos de Vizcaya steel plant has been completely cleaned up and converted into spaces for trade fairs and concerts.
How they talk in Barakaldo
Euskera and Castilian coexist and «Barakaldo» is the official Basque form. «Margen Izquierda» is the geographical and social expression used for the industrial municipalities on the left bank of the Nervión.
agur
Greeting used to take leave and, depending on the context, also to say hello. Short greeting formula in Basque, very recognizable in the daily life of the Basque Country.
Everyday life in Barakaldo
The blast furnaces are no longer there
Barakaldo was steel and shipyards, and when they closed in the eighties the city lost everyone's jobs: where the factories used to be, there is now the shopping centre and the trade fair.
The underground as a backbone
The Bilbao metro has three stops here and people take it like one takes a lift: in ten minutes you are in the centre of Bilbao, and half the city does it every day.
«En diez minutos estoy en Bilbao.» — In ten minutes I am in Bilbao.
The «Bilbao Exhibition Centre»
The largest trade fair in the north is in this municipality, and on exhibition days the hotels and bars in the area work at full capacity: many baracaldeses have worked there in setting up.
What to eat in Barakaldo
Gilda
Olive, anchovy and green chilli pepper on a cocktail stick, in one bite.
Txipirones en su tinta
Small squid cooked in their own ink, with onion, served with white rice.
Bacalao al pil-pil
Salt cod cooked in oil with garlic, with the sauce that thickens on its own.
Festivals in Barakaldo
Karmenak
around 16 July
Jolín and the Deabru open the festival, and the «txosnas» fill the area where the blast furnaces used to be.
What to see in Barakaldo
Bilbao Exhibition Centre
The exhibition centre, one of the largest in Spain, built on the industrial area.
Iglesia de San Vicente Mártir
The church of the old town, Gothic, which remained in the middle of the industrial city.
Parque de Lasesarre
The park built on a factory site, with the football pitch and lawns.
Where Barakaldo comes from
Where the blast furnaces used to be
Middle Ages
The village
An agricultural settlement on the left bank of the ría.
1855
The iron
The first workshops open: the industrial transformation of the bank begins.
1902
Altos Hornos de Vizcaya
The largest steel company in Spain is born: Barakaldo is its city.
1996 → today
After the iron
With the blast furnaces closed, the bank is completely rebuilt: where the factories used to be, there is now the city.
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