Bilbao holidays

Just 20 minutes’ drive outside the city centre is the ever-popular Ereaga Beach. This 800-metre stretch of fine sand’s a big draw for watersports fans, who flock here for surfing, bodyboarding and canoeing. The action’s pretty packed on dry land, too. Concerts and beach football tournaments are just a couple of the activities that keep crowds coming back year after year.

Just along the coast from Ereaga is a smaller swathe, Las Arenas Beach. It’s less packed than its neighbour, but thanks to the sailing school on the sands, it’s still a firm favourite with watersports fans.

Gorrondatxe has far less going on than its coastal neighbours, but what it lacks in activities it more than makes up for in scenery. Its dark sands are set against a rugged backdrop of grassy dunes and rocky cliff faces, which arguably give it an edge in the looks department. Its choppy waters make it a popular spot with surfers, but unlike many of the neighbouring beaches, there are no restaurants or bars by the sands.

The city’s old town square, Plaza Nueva, holds a large flea market every Sunday morning, where everything from comics and books to coins and old stamps are up for grabs.

The Zubiarte Shopping Centre’s filled with familiar faces and big-name brands like Mango and H&M. You’ll find it in the Indautxu district, around 10 minutes’ walk from the city centre.

El Corte Ingles – Spain’s largest department store chain – has a branch right in the city centre, and its eight floors reel off leading designer brands like Balenciaga and Barbour.

Casual bars can be found all over the Abando district in the city centre, and many of them form serve up traditional pintxos with crisp glasses of local wine.

Casco Viejo – Bilbao’s Medieval old quarter – is filled with late-night bars and clubs, including old theatres and churches, which have been converted into atmospheric party venues.

These small, on-bread morsels are served alongside local wines in Bilbao’s famous pintxos bars. There are usually cured meat, fish and vegetable options to choose from – just don’t let the locals hear you call them tapas.

This concoction of red wine and cola can be found on bar menus across the city. Legend has it that the drink was created as a way of stopping out-of-date wine from going to waste, and it’s now a popular cocktail across the whole Basque region.

On its own, bacalao is dried, salted cod, but it’s the pil-pil sauce that makes this dish symbolic of these parts. It’s made of garlic and chilli, mixed with hot olive oil, and is simmered in a pan in a circular motion. And as for the name pil-pil – it’s said to be the bubbling sound that’s created when the sauce is being heated up.

The name of this dish refers to the pot it’s cooked in, and it’s a Basque staple that goes back decades. The meal was traditionally cooked on the city’s fishing boats, thanks to the ease with which it could be prepared. White tuna chunks, potatoes, spring onion, pepper, garlic and tomato all go into the pot to create a tasty fish stew.

Courgette, pepper, tomato and onion are the key players in this ratatouille-like dish. Pisto has one extra ingredient that makes the difference though – it’s usually served with a fried egg on top.