Portugalete
Portugalete is a town lying to the west of Bilbao in the province of Biscay in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain.
The town has 45,294 inhabitants as of 2021 and is part of Bilbao's metropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Estuary of Bilbao, on the left bank. Its land area is only 3.21 km², resulting in a population density of 15,908.4 persons/km², the fifth-most densely populated municipality in Spain. It was established in 1322 by María Díaz de Haro.
Etymology
Despite its name, it is not near the Spanish border with Portugal and its name is not etymologically related to that country: it is derived, instead, from a phonetic adaptation of its Basque name to the Spanish language.Transporter bridge
The town has the Vizcaya Bridge, a transporter bridge inaugurated in 1893. The car ferry is suspended from a frame by wires attached to wheels on tracks above the cabin and moves from one side of the River Nervión to the other via a traction system.This bridge was declared a World Heritage Site in 2006.