


Mini trips from Getxo to Portugalete.

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Hanging Bridge

Guilty of revolutionising Bilbao's industry.

Bilbao’s Hanging Bridge, or Biscayan Bridge, is one of the most representative legacies left behind by Bilbao’s industrial revolution. Alberto Palacio Elissaque, who also designed the Retiro Palace in Madrid, oversaw this project. Inaugurated in 1893, it sought to connect both banks of the estuary, allowing ship traffic to pass, without interrupting the city merchants’ work. The designer developed an innovative project, nicknamed ‘Palace transporter birdge’, which used a giant metal structure to transport passengers from the bank of Getxo to Portugalete, without obstructing the trajectories of the water vessels. The Biscay Bridge was the first transporter bridge in the world to be elevated on a metallic structure. During the Civil War, the Northern Army stopped the National Army from reaching Portugalete by cutting off all connections and knocking down the bridge in 1937. However, in 1941, work began to restore the bridge, which was fully functioning again some months later. This was one of the main arteries of business and economy in Biscay.

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