Shopping in Bilbao
Bilbao has all the typical high street shops you'd expect, mainly dotted along Gran Via and in the modern Zubiarte shopping centre. But it also has many high-end stores around Plaza Moyúa with interesting little boutiques and arty shops found in the old town.
As you'd expect from a city that has the world's biggest covered market, food is an obsession. Meanwhile, souvenir stores in the old town are determined to proclaim every aspect of Basque culture. You'll find football shirts proclaiming another local passion, the famous Athletic Bilbao, along with Basque wine glasses (heavy chunks of glass with just a small hollow for the actual drink) and the ubiquitous local flag.
The Ensanche and Old Town is where you’ll find shops selling the best wares from national and international fashion designers. The Old Town also offers a combination of pedestrianised streets, historical monuments, cultural institutions and over 800 shops pushing everything from handicrafts to designer clothes. Basque craft items, from pottery and crystal to leather products and traditional furniture, are available from many shops in the city.
The Old Town’s Mercado de la Ribera (Riverside Market) is possibly the biggest indoor market in Europe. Originally designed in 1930 to be clean and functional, this handsome building of stone and glass has become a secular temple to the Basque worship of food. The ground floor is mainly devoted to fish, the first level to meat and the second storey to fruit, vegetables, flowers and other products.
Central Bilbao offers high street shopping and big department stores such as the ubiquitous Spanish favourite Corte Ingles. Zubiarte (2 Calle Lehendakari Leizaola) is a shopping centre in which exclusive design and avant-garde architecture blend to great effect. It has 70 shops on four different levels and is great for clothes and footwear.
Shops in Bilbao are open from 1000 to 1330 and from 1700 to 2000. Many shops are open on Saturdays. Shopping centres are open from 1000 to 2100.
Although any Basque look is incomplete without the traditional Txapela (flat-topped cap) that many of the older locals will carry off with great style, most visitors will just want to take home the refreshing local wine, Txakoli, or the spicy cheese, Ideazabal.
Visitors from outside the EU are entitled to tax refunds on purchases of over €90. Look for the signs that say ‘Global Refund TAX FREE SHOPPING’ and ask for your ‘GLOBAL REFUND CHEQUE’ after you have paid. Validate your cheque at customs when you leave the EU and exchange your validated cheque at any International Cash Refund Office in the world.
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