Urban Planning

In its beginnings, Bilbao only had three streets (Somera, Artecalle, and Tendería) surrounded by walls located where now stands the Ronda street. Inside this enclosure, there was a small hermitage dedicated to the Apostle Saint James(the current St.James Cathedral), to where pilgrims visited on their way to Santiago de Compostela. In the fifteenth century, four more streets were built, forming the original Zazpikaleak or "Seven Streets". In 1571, after several floods and a major fire in 1569, the walls were demolished in order to allow the expansion of the town.

In 1861, ingeneer Amado Lázaro projected an ensanche inside the then-municipality of Abando with wide avenues and regular buildings, that included the hygienists ideas of the time. The project was mostly based on Barcelona´s Eixample, designed by Idelfons Cerda. However, the project was dropped by the City Council after considering it "utopian and excessive" because of its high cost, though of great quality. Furthermore, Lázaro had calculated the demographic grow of the city based on the previous three centuries, a provision that eventually would not conform to reality.

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The next large urban change in Bilbao would come in 1876, when the capital annexed (in several stages) the neighbouring municipality of Abando. The new ensanche project was planned by a team made of architect Severino de Achúcarro and engineers Pablo de Alzola (elected Mayor that same year), and Ernesto de Hoffmeyer. Unlike Lázaro's, this project was significantly smaller, compassing 1.58 km2 (0.61 sq mi) against the original 2.54 km2 (0.98 sq mi).