The largest city in Spain’s Basque Country has for almost three decades leveraged global interest in its Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Bilbao into a torrent of city building. The renovation and expansion of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum alone is adding 2,000 square metres of new exhibition space for contemporary art, which should boost a surprisingly middling #53 Museum ranking.
Architecture and design continue to underpin the city’s magnetism. Santiago Calatrava’s Zubizuri Bridge and “Dove” terminal of the Bilbao Airport paved the way for Zaha Hadid’s Zorrotzaurre, a 2.4-kilometre artificial peninsula in the heart of the city that is becoming “an island of knowledge, technology, innovation and advanced industry.” The foundation stone was laid in 2025 for the first building of the Technology Park, and 60 new beachfront apartments are under development. Bilbao also excels in Green Space, with a #3 ranking burnished by new green corridors and ongoing work to complete the Bilbao Green Belt, which will link the forest parks of the hillsides around the city with its urban parks. A newly approved 6.7-kilometre north/south subway link will bring it all closer. Add to that the #17-ranked nightlife, and you have the ideal amenities to retain Europe’s 15th most-educated citizens.