“Bilbao is more than the Guggenheim,” runs the regional tourism campaign. It is certainly true but as an entrée to what the Basque region has to offer, the Guggenheim is an excellent place to start.

The physical effect of the building can be as overpowering as the exhibitions to be found within. The exotic curves and shapes are striking, but the effects of a building bereft of straight lines can disorient the viewer.

That experience is but a foretaste of the permanent exhibition of sculpture by Richard Serra inside. The Californian’s monumental works, in vast rust-flecked sheets of curving steel reminiscent of the defunct shipyard, play with your sense of space and sound.

The parallels between Bilbao and Tyneside are strong. Both lost heavy engineering and shipbuilding industries on a grand scale and both fought to save their heritage — Bilbao with bitter street fighting and violence. But both turned to the other extreme, moving from the art of engineering to the engineering of art.

Guggenheim is nothing if not a brilliant piece of innovative engineering woven into a riverside walk, in much the same way as Newcastle made the transition both mentally and physically before Bilbao. Both cities now thrive on their new personas, Bilbao the more so because of its gutsy Basque heritage and struggle to be taken seriously by the rest of the country.

Bilbao is firmly anchored in Basque culture, with its emphasis on literature and the culinary arts. But its importance as an industrial and commercial centre have left it with a legacy of fine architecture, graceful squares and broad avenues.

The city’s style is on the streets, in the cafés, on the sleek metro system designed by Norman Foster and much of the English-inspired fashion. But nowhere is it more exemplified than in the annual contest to find the city’s best pintxo or Basque tapas. The competition takes place in February. Each bar produces its finest finger-food: tiny chunks of cod in delicate pastry or beef with foie gras. The reward is booming business in a city that knows its onions.

City's star chef

Bibao's gastronomical credentials are led by Fernando Canales, who runs a Michelin one-star restaurant in a government building.

It may be the city’s conference centre, but think of it, a government canteen in the Michelin Guide. Canales has a TV cookery show in which he keeps things simple, using the best of local fish and vegetables.

He also uses the best olive oil, wine and the finest truffles. Such work requires serious manpower and Canales deploys as many as 12 cooks for 15 guests at special dinner parties.

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