For the modest price of just €0.55 (approximately $1 AUD), travellers can experience one of Spain's most unique engineering marvels - the Vizcaya Bridge connecting Portugalete and Getxo in the beautiful Basque Country.
A Minute-Long Journey Across History
The brief but unforgettable gondola ride spans barely sixty seconds, yet delivers a lasting impression as passengers skim above the Nervion River estuary. The covered compartment typically carries a mix of curious tourists and local residents, including elderly pensioners and young mothers with prams, while scooters and vehicles occupy the central open-air section.
This innovative transport system feels like a small ferry suspended approximately 45 metres above the water, being pulled along rails of a horizontal crossbar rather than sailing across the river.
World's First Transporter Bridge
Constructed in the late 1890s across the Nervion River estuary as it flows beyond Bilbao into the Bay of Biscay, the Vizcaya Bridge (also known as Puente Colgante) holds the distinguished title of being the world's first transporter bridge.
This 160-metre-long structure earned UNESCO World Heritage status for its groundbreaking use of iron technology and steel cables, which subsequently inspired similar bridges across Europe, Africa and the Americas.
The bridge's revolutionary design allowed tall vessels to pass underneath without requiring the structure to be raised or swung, while the gondola efficiently transported goods, vehicles and people between the historic Basque port towns of Portugalete and Getxo.
Engineering Legacy and Restoration
The bridge's distinctive rusty-red hue might recall San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, though it measures seventeen times shorter. The ironwork of its pier-pylons bears closer resemblance to Paris's Eiffel Tower, which is unsurprising given the project began several years after Gustave Eiffel's masterpiece.
Designed by Basque architect Alberto de Palacio y Elissague, a disciple of Eiffel who trained in Paris and Barcelona, the bridge was a collaborative effort with his engineer brother Silvestre and French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, a pioneer in cableway transporters.
Factories from the Basque Country and France manufactured components for the bridge, which operated continuously from its 1893 unveiling until 1937, when it was bombed and destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. Restoration works quickly resumed operations, though ship traffic gradually declined as Bilbao's industrial prominence and shipbuilding industry waned during the twentieth century.
The gondola remains an essential part of the local transport network, operating 24/7 with departures every eight minutes during daytime and hourly overnight. Each "barquilla" can transport approximately twelve vehicles and two hundred people per crossing.
Exploring Beyond the Bridge
Visitors can access both Portugalete and Getxo via separate lines of the Bilbao Metro, a more recent engineering achievement launched thirty years ago and expanded multiple times since. From central Bilbao, Metro line two delivers travellers to Portugalete, where narrow, bar-lined alleys slope down to the waterfront dominated by the striking red bridge.
While the bridge walkway offering panoramic views from the top was closed for maintenance during this visit (priced at €10 or $17.70 AUD when available), the gondola experience alone proves worthwhile.
Across in Getxo, visitors discover charming bakeries serving coffee and sweet treats, plus the attractive Las Arenas waterfront where yachts and fishing boats bob in the harbour. Anglers try their luck from jetties while occasional cruise ships berth at the Bilbao cruise terminal, with companies like Celebrity and MSC offering shore excursions to the bridge and other metropolitan highlights.
The waterfront promenade reveals fascinating historical insights through information boards detailing the palatial English-style mansions lining the route. Most date from the early twentieth century, built for wealthy industrialists primarily by architect Manuel Maria Smith, a Bilbao native with Irish family roots.
The promenade curves around to a picturesque lighthouse where visitors can relax on walls soaking up sunshine and bay views. Further exploration reveals sandy beaches, traditional fishermen's houses, churches and cliffs, though the vibrant energy of Bilbao often calls travellers back for evening meals after returning via Getxo's Neguri Metro station on line one.
Next year will mark two decades since the Vizcaya Bridge received its prestigious UNESCO World Heritage listing, celebrating both its historical significance and continued practical use in modern Basque Country life.
