Discover the vibrant industrial heritage of Álava, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa

Among towering furnaces, restored mines, and workshops open to visitors, the Basque Country is calling out to be explored through the unique lens of industrial tourism. Spread across its three provinces, the Basque Country’s industrial heritage has been turned into a network of museums, awe-inspiring landscapes, and cultural spaces that shine a light on how iron, steelmaking, and transportation shaped the historical development of the region. In Bizkaia, the journey gets underway along the Nervión Estuary, where the Sestao Blast Furnace No. 1 stands tall as an emblem of the Basque industrial age. From the viewpoint on Txabarri Street, visitors can marvel at its 80-meter structure, a lasting testament to Altos Hornos de Vizcaya. In Balmaseda, the La Encartada Factory Museum offers a peek into the region’s textile heritage, while the El Pobal Ironworks in Muskiz exhibits traditional ironworking within a restored 16th-century hydraulic facility. Meanwhile, Bilbao’s Itsasmuseum houses a rich collection on the region’s maritime past.

Open to the public since 2004, El Pobal is a living museum dedicated to two of Bizkaia’s most influential pre-industrial activities: ironworking and milling © Shutterstock

In Álava, industrial tourism and the natural landscape intertwine. In the town of Araia (Asparrena), the Ajuria and Urigoitia Foundry is located within the Aizkorri-Aratz Natural Park, home to Spain’s first electric induction furnace and the Basque Country’s first blast furnace. Meanwhile, in the Salt Valley of Añana, centuries-old salt mines are a testament to how salt production has shaped the region and its communities down through the years. In Gipuzkoa, mining takes center stage in Zerain, where there are trails through quarries, tunnels, and calcination kilns in the Aizpea Mines. In Pasaia (Albaola), the Maritime Basque Factory offers an immersive experience in traditional shipbuilding, where the replica of the San Juan whaling ship takes shape before visitors’ eyes.

The Aizpea Mines, better known as the Montaña del Hierro (Iron Mountain), designated a Monumental Ensemble by the Basque Government, gives visitors an insight into historic iron extraction techniques as well giving them the opportunity to go through an underground passage © Shutterstock

Each region contributes something unique to the Basque Country’s industrial past. This experience goes beyond heritage, it is immersive, tangible, and brimming with living memory. Discover the Basque Country through a history forged by hard work coal, and fire.