Bilbao (Basque: Bilbo) is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Pais Vasco and the capital of the province of Vizcaya (Basque: Bizkaia). A major seaport and industrial centre, it is located on the river Nervin, and its suburbs extend to the Bay of Biscay. Population of the city of Bilbao proper was 354,000 as of 2003 estimates. Population of the urban area was 935,000 as of 2000 estimates. Population of the metropolitan area (urban area plus satellite towns) was 947,000 as of 2003 estimates, ranking as the fourth-largest metropolitan area of Spain. As of 2004, the mayor of Bilbao is Iaki Azkuna.
The city has recently undergone major urban renewal centred around the new metro system by Sir Norman Foster (see List of Bilbao metro stations) and, most of all, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry. A new tram (EuskoTran) was introduced in 2002. The Port of Bilbao, formerly on the river, has been moved and expanded downstream on the Bay of Biscay, opening a great deal of central real estate on the river that has been the site of most of the new building. Other new landmarks include the Euskalduna Palace and the Santiago Calatrava designed Zubi-Zuri Bridge. A major landmark tower, designed by Cesar Pelli, to house the Biscay local goverment will also be built and there are ambitious plans to regenerate the peninsula on the river known as Zorrozaurre.
It is the home city of the football team Athletic Club Bilbao, who play at the San Mames stadium.
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Mataró (Latin Iluro) is the capital of the comarca of Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the Mediterranean Sea. Population 102,018 (1996).
The first railway in Spain was the line Barcelona - Mataró opened in 1848, lead by the Catalan businessman Miquel Biada, born in Mataró.
Jerez de la Frontera is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain.
It is where sherry originated and it is one of the original centres of Flamenco. Frontera refers to its location formerly being on the frontier, or border, between the Moorish and Christian regions of Spain.
It is the home of the Xerez Club Deportivo football team.
Jerez is also home to the motorsport race circuit Circuito Permante de Jerez.
10 km north is the Airport Jerez.
Mijas is a town in the province of Málaga, in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is a typically Andalucian white village located at a mountain side about 400 metres above the sea level in the heart of Costa del Sol.
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Biggest suburb in the E.U.
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat is notable for being the biggest suburb not only in Spain but also in the European Union.
Demographics
The current population of the city is 246,415 ( census estimate 2003 ) and growing quickly. The city had a net gain of population of 6,000 people in 2003. Over 11 % of the city's residential population is born outside of Spain, ( mainly in Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Morocco ). However the city has
Ávila is a town in the south of Old Castile, the capital of the province of the same name, now part of the autonomous community of Castile and Léon, Spain.
It is renowned for Teresa of Avila, the Carmelite reformer, who lived there, the Ávila city wall and the Cathedral.
