And Bilbao is no longer empty in August
More than one calendar will have this Saturday and Sunday highlighted in red. The reasons may be several: for some the good begins and for others the countdown begins to return to the routine. This is what has to coincide in a weekend the auction of the holiday period of July with that of August.
To give some optimism to the matter, yesterday the Villa seemed an appealing option for all those tourists who have given a starting signal or their vacation days turned out. And, it is that, Bilbao has not been much less empty after the exit operation started on Friday.
At 11:47 in the morning, a train from Madrid’s Chamartín station arrived at Abando with about 160 passengers. There were all kinds of them, with a backpack on their shoulders or with a briefcase dragging them. Examples of the latter are Susana and her 7-year-old son: “I took my vacation on Friday and we came to see the aitites, my brothers… We are from Bilbao, but we have been living in Madrid for a few years, so we take advantage of summers , Christmas and bridges. This time we plan to be many days because I’m still not sure when I’ll rejoin”, he said.
Under the backpacks, the youngest hide, like Jess, 24, and Manuel, 28. “It’s the first time we’re in Bilbao and we’ll stay until Wednesday,” he says. For some of those who arrive, one of the obligatory stops is a few meters away, on the circular plaza tourist office.
Inside, near a thirty people. Many of them were waiting for the start of a guided tour of the Ensanche, like Víctor and his family. “We come from Salamanca and we will only be there for one day, so we prefer to find out first,” he explained.
At 12:30 in the morning, the 27 degrees and the little trace of sun made it somewhat easier for the groups of free tour Listen to your guide in front of the Cathedral of Santiago. What was most heard was English and Italian among the attendees. Like Alexander who revealed how “we come from Turin by car and we arrived today at 11 in the morning. We are a group of 20 people belonging to a Catholic association”. And although they had the plan of the villa in hand, he assured that “we prefer ask the natives to discover the corners of this city”.
Shortly after one in the afternoon, in the New SquareIt was hard to find a table without an owner. “We are waiting for lunch to try the pintxos,” said Giuseppe and Alessia, a young couple from Milan.
hot spots
Another of the hot spots of entry and arrival of passengers in the city was Bilbao Intermodal. Only on Friday some 20,000 people passed through the terminal both to come and to leave. “Since it is a fortnight change, there are some exits and very staggered”, affirmed municipal sources. “This Saturday (yesterday) we estimate to serve about 16,000 travelers. This year has been very rare, all the movements have coincided on the weekend, ”they clarified.
As the Director of Traffic of the Basque Government, Sonia Díaz de Corcuera, said, this weekend will be the “most complicated” and “with highest volume of traffic for the entire summer on Basque roads”. Traveling with your own vehicle has been one of the options that some have taken for those who have to return to work tomorrow, such as Beñat: “It makes me angry, but out of responsibility I have decided to return a little earlier”, acknowledged this 34-year-old Bilbao . “After five weeks of vacation and having spent the last few days in my town, on the Navarrese shore, An interesting early morning awaits me on Monday”, admitted this Bizkaibus driver. “I prefer to be a few days before to land, to be as informed as possible.” Others, like Federico, undertook the return trip by plane. “I’m coming back from the Dominican Republic. I start work on Monday and a move is still waiting for me” he concluded.