is an area called the Arenal, a few steps away the Casco Viejo, until the late 20th century. In 1902, an exterior port was built at the mouthof the estuary, in the coastal municipality of Santurtzi. Further extensions led to a superport that in the 1970s replaced the docks inside Bilbao, with the exception of those located in the neighbourhood of Zorrotza, still in activity.
As of 2010, the port of Bilbao is a first-class commercial port and is among the top five of Spain. Over 200 regular maritime services link Bilbao with 500 ports worldwide. It closed 2009 with cargo movements amounting to 31.6 million tonnes, being Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries the main markets. In the first semester of 2008, it received over 67,000 passengers and 2,770 ships. This activity reported 419 million euros to the basque GDP and generates almost 10,000 jobs.
Mining and ironworks
Iron is the main and most abundant raw material found in Biscay, and its extraction is legally protected since 1526. Mining was the main primary activity in Bilbao and the minerals, of great quality, was exported to all over Europe. It was not until the second half of the nineteenth century when ironworks industry was developed, benefited by the resources and the well communicated city. In the 20th century, both Spanish and European capitals imported around the 90% of the Biscayan iron. Although World War I made Bilbao one of the main ironworks powers, later crisis prompted a decline in the activity.
Tourism
The first notion of Bilbao as a touristic city came with the inauguration of the railway between Bilbao and the coastal neighbourhood ofLas Arenas, in the municipality of Getxo in 1872. This way, the city became a modest beach destination.
However, the real touristic impulse would come with the inauguration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 1997,
