Postcard from Bilbao: Athletic Club is more than a football team

There's an unquenchable working-class resolve in Bilbao, full of tenacity, hard work and pride, stemming from long-lost souls who worked in its mines, shipyards, and factories that fuelled the industrial development

ART: The Museo Guggenheim in Bilbao in northern Spain.

SURVEYING the vast tracts of verdant Basque country from our airplane window over Bilbao, a voice piped up, “it’s grey and green,” adding impishly: “Just like Ireland.” 

While those hoping for a late splash of Spanish September sunshine were to be disappointed – the sun mostly failed to appear in the days around matchday in this gritty but welcoming city – this unique city has been packed full of surprises.