Stage 10: Bilbao — the gateway to the Basque cultural universe

Laura Casas | 30. May 2025

Now it’s the turn of the Basque Country: surfing culture, delicious pintxos, and stunning landscapes. Join us to explore the area of Bilbao — from the futuristic curves of the Guggenheim Museum to the wild beauty of its coastal trails!

Bilbao — known to locals as Bilbo — is known around the world for its modern architecture, vibrant culture and, above all, the iconic Guggenheim Museum. That’s why our journey couldn’t have started anywhere else but here.

Inaugurated in 1997, this striking cultural space — which looks a bit like a spaceship (though thankfully not one from a sci-fi invasion 👽) — houses an impressive collection of contemporary art.

This museum is guarded by two faithful protectors: Puppy, a giant dog made of flowers that stands 12.4 meters tall and weighs 60 tons at the main entrance; and Maman, a 9-meter tall spider located at the back of the museum.

Puppy was designed to radiate optimism, confidence, and security, while Maman — which means “mom” in French — is a tribute to the artist Louise Bourgeois’s mother.

We went down the stairs in front of the museum, passed by some fountains and rode around to the back, following the Ría de Bilbao (Bilbao’s Estuary), which is actually the Nervión River.

From there, we headed to the Iberdrola Tower, a 165-meter skyscaper considered the tallest office building in Spain. We also took the opportunity to see San Mamés Stadium, home to the Athletic Club de Bilbao. Any soccer fans here? ⚽

We kept cycling along the river until we reached the famous Vizcaya Bridge. This structure made of iron, also known as the Hanging Bridge, was the world’s first transporter bridge and allows to cross the Nervión river. We passed this UNESCO World Heritage Site and took the opportunity to explore Getxo.

We continued our journey along the coastal trail, enjoying the amazing views until we reached Punta Galea. There, where we stopped to admire the impressive cliffs (don’t worry, there’s some land behind the fence, so our rider Jon was never in danger 😉).

We carried on until we reached Sopelana Beach, a perfect spot for those who want to enjoy the vibrant nature of the Basque Country and catch some big waves. In fact, several surfing championships are usually held at this location.

To end this stage, we visited the Centro Tecnológico IDEKO, specialized in manufacturing and industrial production technologies. Its main goal is to generate, capture and develop new technologies capable of responding to the current and future challenges of the industry.

Besides giving us a tour of their installations, they also showed us two of their applications with our products: a triflex energy chain and a gantry.

The first one was a robot with a laser scanner that scans a standard part with a known shape. This helps calibrate the scanning system and locate the parts to be machined faster than the usual probing method. Our triflex energy chain makes sure the robot has a proper energy supply.

The second application involves an inspection system using eddy currents to detect burn marks. In this case, an igus gantry controlled by the igus Robot Control (iRC) software is used to reliably keep the sensor perpendicular to the part.

That’s all for today! We hope you enjoyed this stage as much as we did. See you in the next and last post — we’ll give this tour the finish it’s earned! 🎖️

Our riders:

Ibon Salterain

“I’m Ibon and I live in Vitoria-Gasteiz. I’m about to celebrate 10 years at igus, where I work as Industry Manager for Machine Tools. Outside of work, I’m passionate about music and sports — especially playing the drums and cycling. But above all, what I truly enjoy is spending quality time in good company.”

Jon Mentxaka

“I’m Jon, and I’ve been working for igus since 2008. I started as an OS in the north of Spain, later OS + Industry Manager of Renewable Energies, and since 2018 I’m the Product Manager of iglidur. 

I live in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country. 

I love doing sports! I’ve been running for years, but for the past 5 years, I’ve been in love with road cycling. We’re a group of 15 people who wake up very early on weekends and start cycling at 7:30 a.m.! I’ts the perfect way to enjoy this sport and make time for our families.  

Note: Eager to take some KOMs and ride faster than Pogacar with igus bike!”

Map of the tour