My goodness Bilbao has got a lot of tapas bars! What a fantastic way to spend an evening, sauntering from one establishment to another, an Albariño here, a cañita there, with a plentiful supply of jamon serrano and quails eggs on toast to soak up the booze the keep things on the right side of civilised.On a recent weekend trip there we spent an evening making our way around the arcaded main square in the old town (known as the Casco Viejo). Children played by the fountains in the centre of the square late into the evening, while their parents (presumably) kept a watchful eye from behind servings of olives and crianza. The bars all have service hatches leading onto the pavement, meaning you don't even have to go inside to order. This turns the English "grab a corner seat and don't move all evening" mentality completely on its head - outside in the street is where it all happens.
On our second evening we visited a tapas bar-lined street in the central shopping district which someone had recommended. Again, the same challenge applied - i.e. how far can you make it along the street, putting in pit stops in all the likely looking tapas joints along the way? In our case the answer was less than 100 yards in about three hours!
Spanish friends tell me that as far as tapas culture goes, Bilbao has nothing on nearby Santander. Could there be a rival contender for the title of Tapas Capital of the World? One thing's for sure - I intend to go back and find out.
