1. Newsletter - October 2012
CELEBRITY CONSTELLATION MAKES SEVEN OVERNIGHT
CALLS AT BILBAO ON ITS “WINE ROUTE”
A new cruise facility will be built by the Port Authority
Year after year, the Port of Bilbao, thanks to its infrastructure
and the tourist attractions in the Basque Country, has been
consolidating cruise traffic while welcoming new vessels and a
greater number of cruise passengers.
At the Port of Bilbao, tourists can begin their vacation on board
cruise vessels offering routes from five to nine days mainly to
the north of Europe or include Bilbao as a port of call, and even
stay a day and a half berthed at the cruise terminal in the town
of Getxo.
BILBAO, YOUR CRUISE PORT
www.bilbaoport.es
2. YOUR CRUISE PORT
October 2012
Bilbao; port of embarkation
Once more this year, three companies have chosen Bilbao
as a passenger embarkation / disembarkation port: MSC
Cruises with their vessel MSC Ópera will have docked
eight times; Iberocruceros with El Grand Mistral, twice,
and Pullmantur with the Empress, also twice.
3. YOUR CRUISE PORT
October 2012
They then visited Biscay Bridge, the first suspension bridge
with a transporter carriage in the world, and one of the few
still in operation
In commemoration of the Constellation’s first call, the Getxo
Town Council, and the Port Authority of Bilbao welcomed
passengers and crew sampling Txakoli wine and typical
Basque pintxos
4. YOUR CRUISE PORT
October 2012
Celebrity Constelation
This season the outstanding achievement is Celebrity
Cruises / Royal Caribbean’s commitment to the Port of
Bilbao with
the inclusion
of seven
overnight
calls to be
made by
the M/V
Celebrity
Constellation, offering wine routes.
New New Cruise Terminal
Terminal
The present cruise terminal is ideally located in Getxo, in
a privileged environment next to promenades, a marina,
a certified Blue Flag beach, a UNESCO-declared World
Heritage site transporter bridge. In addition, there are
To this must be added other cruisers that have also several hotel and catering establishments including a
opted for Bilbao, some on more than one occasion, restaurant managed by a one-star Michelin chef.
as a preferred port of call on their routes. In all, the
Getxo Terminal, situated only 15 minutes from Bilbao Given the growth of the Basque Country as a tourist
and from its airport, will receive over 50 calls in the attraction and the international increase in cruise tourism,
2012 season. the Port Authority of Bilbao will build a second cruise
terminal beside the existing one with the works due to
commence in November. The Port Authority will invest
5. YOUR CRUISE PORT
October 2012
13.8 million euros in this facility which will have a surface ones.
area of 27,400m², 355 metres berthing and a 12-metre Visit to Biscay Bridge
draught.
Meet us at Marseille Visitors have an ample range of visits and trips at their disposal
to be made by coach, private car and even by the underground
From 27 to 29 November, the Port Authority of Bilbao or on foot.
will take part in the
Seatrade Med Cruise One of the outstanding visits is to Getxo itself, the home of
Convention, the most the terminal and where Biscay Bridge, popularly known as
important cruise the “Hanging Bridge” is located. This is a transporter bridge
gathering in Europe, built 119 years ago just 5 minutes by road from the cruise
which will take place terminal. It is one of the most outstanding constructions
in Marseille this year. of the European Industrial Revolution and represents one
From its own stand – of the greatest engineering achievements of the late XIX
number 512 – the Port century. In 2006, it was
Authority will promote declared a UNESCO
its infrastructure and services for the cruise industry as World Heritage Site.
well as the Basque Country’s extensive tourist offer.
The bridge’s basic
The Basque Country, a must on your route structure consists of
four 61-metre high
Up to August, the Basque Country welcomed 1.5 million iron towers, raised in
visitors. This is 18% more tourists compared to the three pairs on both Banks of the Bilbao River, and connected by
previous years; with regards to overseas visitors, the a crossbeam 160 metres long that constitute the pillars of
increase is 33%. the Bridge, situated 45 metres above the water at high tide.
Passengers and vehicles are transported via the carriage
The number of passengers at Bilbao’s International Airport hanging from a 25-metre long gondola with 36 wheels
grew 5% until August, and hopes to close the year with moving along the rails on the horizontal crossbeam. The
over four million. The Airport concentrates more than half Bridge has a lift to a pedestrian platform 60 metres high.
of Northern Spain’s outwardbound foreign traffic and offers Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
destinations to 17 European cities besides 15 Spanish
6. YOUR CRUISE PORT
October 2012
Another outstanding visit is to Bilbao: the town, which has The exhibition coincides with the year of his eightieth bir-
become an international example of urban regeneration, is thday and presents the same number of works carried out
only fifteen minutes from the cruise terminal. During their
visit, tourists can get to know the town’s perfectly preser-
ved old quarter and its more modern areas, where Frank O.
in the last sixty years to
show the evolution of a
painter who has develo-
Ghery’s Guggenheim Museum is located. ped his own style based
on the exaltation of volu-
me and colour. On display
will be 79 paintings and
the monumental sculpture
Horse with bridles. (2009:
Bronze 311 x 305 x 150
cm).
Just a few metres away is the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, In addition, Bilbao has many restaurants and bars whe-
which houses a collection of Fernando Botero’s artistic re the renowned Basque cuisine can be savoured, not to
works from 8 October until 20 January 2013. Botero is the mention a great number of both traditional and internatio-
best-known living Latin American artist.
Useful links:
www.bilbao.net
www.getxo.net/turismo
www.bizkaia.net
www.euskadi.net
www.bilbaoair.com
Autoridad Portuaria de Bilbao www.bilbaoport.es
Campo Volantín, 37 • 48007 Bilbao (Spain) Tel. +34 944871200 comercial@bilbaoport.es