The city of Bilbao had its origin in the 3rd century BC when the first urbanized and organized populations formed. These acquired greater relevance during the Roman occupation.
By the end of the 13th century, Bilbao received a founding impulse thanks to the lords of Biscay. It became part of the so-called Biscayan towns, which included Portugalete, Plencia, Ondárroa and Munguía, among others.
In the year 1310, Bilbao received an important extension of its commercial privileges, as it was an obligatory stop for the commerce of the Crown of Castile to the south. In a short time, this allowed it to expand its domain and borders, offering direct access to the sea for the exchange of goods.
Thanks to this, the port of Bilbao became an important commercial pole throughout Europe, rivalling Barcelona, Seville and even Liverpool or Flanders in the import and export of merchandise and in the transfer of goods and spices.
The modern age
After several centuries in which the city acquired more power and economic and political influence, at the beginning of 1631 Bilbao became the capital of Vizcaya. This completely changed the landscape because the city began to administer a large spectrum of political and tax activities.
The result was a series of altercations and lawsuits between the different power groups that quickly led to popular revolts, such as the famous Salt Rebellion. Not until the end of the 17th century was political and economic instability overcome thanks to successive trade and business agreements with Flanders, England and the Netherlands.
These commercial agreements created two poles that competed for influence and local political power: the merchants and the rural landowners, who provoked a new situation of clear instability that led to a war between them.
The independence struggle
When the Napoleonic invasion occurred, French troops occupied a series of Basque towns. However, Bilbao remained in revolt, becoming one of the main centres of resistance. It was the site of origin of the already famous army of modern guerrillas whose objective was to attack the intruder and flee without facing open combat.
After a war of attrition, in which the city continually changed hands over the years, it managed to repel the French invaders in 1813.
During the rest of the 19th century, Bilbao was the leading scene of the so-called Carlist Wars. However, these armed conflicts did not prevent the city from developing and consolidating itself as the economic centre of the Basque Country with the arrival of the railway, the construction of large urban areas and sustained population growth.
The Civil War and Francoist period
Bilbao was one of the cities that suffered the most during the violent combat of the Spanish Civil War. It was bombed several times over the years by Franco's planes.
During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Bilbao quickly resumed its economic and industrial impetus, as well as the increase in its population.
In the 1940s, the city was rebuilt and modernized with the construction of new urban areas, bridges, highways and the airport. However, the backwardness and economic isolation created what would be called autarky, which led to great discontent among the workers. They began to organize themselves in unions and confront the dictatorship.
Despite this situation of serious instability, Bilbao began to recover after the so-called period of the Spanish Economic Miracle of 1959-1973, when the city rebounded in the sciences, arts and pedagogy.
Democracy and the future
Upon the advent of democracy at the end of the 1970s, Bilbao enjoyed a socioeconomic boost with the entry of Spain into the European Union and the subsequent execution of liberal laws.
However, the great momentum that the city experienced during and after the 1960s stalled in the mid-1990s, resulting in de-industrialization and causing the city to focus on offering services.
This new economic and commercial dynamic allowed Bilbao to become a more modern urban centre, with a new urban structure and the inauguration of new means of communication, especially the Metro.
Similarly, a beneficial expansion began in the city with the appearance of numerous ambitious projects, including Abandoibarra, which became the Euskalduna palace, the Iberdrola tower, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the tram and the Zubizuri.
Other large development plans designed to maximize the potential of the city, such as Garellano and Zorrozaure, focused on creating a new vision of Bilbao for the 21st century in unprecedented fields within new technologies and new markets, increasingly competitive in a fully globalized world.
