Bilbao, a long-time center of commercial and financial activity, has a tradition of outstanding hotels going back two centuries. And, at the present moment, it offers visitors the highest level of quality in both services and the hotel facilities in themselves.
Most of Bilbao's hotel establishments have been renovated recently, and a considerable number have just opened their doors within the last two years.
Apart from their tasteful settings, our hotels come with convention and banquet halls complete with the latest in audiovisual systems, and rooms and suites provided with the most that guests could want in comfort.
Visitors will feel perfectly attended by highly qualified hotel service professionals ready to respond to their needs in several different languages.
Bilbao is immersed in a continuous and in-depth expansion and renovation of its hotel facilities, and by the year 2001 will be able to offer at least 3,000 rooms ready to meet any demand impeccably.
The same tradition that has made Bilbao a leader in hosting all types of conventions and congresses has also meant that it has evolved an ample assortment of services to fill each and every need arising from the organization of these types of events.
Thus, companies dedicated specifically to translation and interpretation services can offer clients the ability to handle large volumes of translation, applying the latest in computer technology; can solve last-minute emergency needs, through fax, modem, or e-mail; all in addition to the excellent credentials of their professional translators/interpreters.
Achieving an optimum press and media coverage requires the services of a communication & public relations firm well acquainted with the network of known figures and the social sphere surrounding the area in which the particular congress has influence.
PROYECCION can help solve your problems in this area responding to any type of communication need (preparation of dossiers, videos, protocol, organization of press conferences, etc.)
Beyond the elements of the congress or convention per se, a host city ought to boast attractive options in such areas as gastronomy, so that congress participants go away having had a pleasant, satisfying stay. No worries here; the Basque country in general, and Bilbao in particular, are internationally famous for their cuisine.
Prestigious gastronomic guides coincide in concentrating their highest awards in our area. Both in the center of the city, only a few minutes from meeting sites, and in the outskirts, Bilbao gives visitors a chance to sample a perfect combination of traditional Basque dishes and seasonal innovations. They can do so either in our typical "caseríos" (country houses), or right in the luxurious salons within sites suited for convention and business meetings, with all the necessary multimedia equipment on hand.
The visitor also has at his disposal, if he chooses, international, fast food, carry-out, and vegetarian restaurants, to mention a few.
A well-run congress will also be remembered for such small details as the catering service. Delegates will feel perfectly attended by any of the catering specialists that PROYECCION recommends in the Professional Congress Guide. Coffee breaks, cocktails, lunches, buffets, etc. will appear exactly when and how you want them, thanks to the complete and experienced teams of professionals in these enterprises.
Another important point to bear in mind is that Bilbao, capital of the province of Vizcaya, is easily accessible overland, by sea or by air.
A series of highways, roads, and railroad lines converge here joining Bilbao to the rest of the Iberian peninsula and Europe, making it a key location along the European Atlantic arc. Bilbao's new airport is only 6 kilometers from the city and is served by a number of European airlines scheduling regular flights to and from the major cities of the Continent. And the "Pride of Bilbao" ferry goes back and forth to the British port of Portsmouth twice a week.
Once in Bilbao, visitors are afforded a great deal of mobility by the efficient network of urban and interurban buses, and also by a spanking-new subway system, designed by Norman Foster and inaugurated in 1995; soon to come is the tramline, which will be operative in 2001 and will signify another major advance in terms of public transportation.
As to private transportation modes, Bilbao proffers a series of car-rental agencies to solve the needs of individuals or small groups, and of larger groups. The enterprises that we propose tender an ample variety of personalized options: business hours adapted to client needs, English-speaking drivers, vehicle rental without drivers, the alternative of leaving the vehicle in any of a network of offices, mechanical assistance around-the-clock, etc.
Cultural and leisure time offerings.-
Bilbao offers many interesting possibilities that will turn the visitor's free hours into an unbroken chain of memorable moments.
The list of cultural offerings, both temporary and permanent, is quite broad. Of particular note is the Teatro Arriaga, an emblematic theater located in the Old Town, and whose programming includes concerts of classical and modern music, opera, dance and theater throughout the year.
A stroll through the art galleries and museums of Bilbao will constitute a unique aesthetic experience. Close by the Fine Arts Museum (Museo de Bellas Artes), which houses one of Spain's important classical art collections, one finds the Guggenheim Museum (Museo Guggenheim), the architectural creation of Frank O. Gehry, so spectacular that it astounds the visitor even before entering to admire the modern art collections within. The Guggenheim, inaugurated in October of 1997, received more than 1,300,000 visitants within its first year in operation.
Also recently added to the list is the Euskalduna Convention & Concert Center (Palacio Euskalduna de Congresos y la Música), whose program calendar includes the annual opera season, which attracts singers and productions of first-rank international standing and is organized by the ABAO.
One can also choose to go shopping,
investigating the several shopping centers in the city, or to go out on
the town, for drinks; if this last is done during the day, then there is
a special name for the activity as practiced in Bilbao, which is "txikiteo".
Txikiteo consists of roaming from bar to bar in groups, drinking small
glasses of wine (white until midday, and red in the afternoon) and sampling
the "pintxos" set out along the bar. Pintxos is the Bilbao equivalent
of the French hors d'oeuvres, the English snacks, or the Spanish tapas,
but raised to a level of sophistication unimaginable until experienced
firsthand.
Wandering among the bars, discotheques, pubs, or live performance places of the Villa is relatively easy, since almost all are located within a small radius. A simple stroll to wherever one's feet want to go will suffice to concoct an evening made up of the best in ambiance (ambiente) and unplanned entertainment that the city has to offer.
