2018, a year of major international events in Bilbao and Bizkaia

• 2018 will be a special year in terms of the international image of Bizkaia and its capital Bilbao thanks to several major events which will be taking place over the course of the forthcoming months, and which will have a great impact on the whole of the Basque Country in financial, social and cultural terms.

Bilbao will become the European rugby capital on the 11^th and 12^th May, when San Mamés football stadium will host the finals of the sport’s top two competitions: the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. Most of the spectators for these events will travel to Bilbao from Great Britain, France and Ireland.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants competition, considered the Oscar ceremony of world gastronomy, will take place in a number of different places in the Basque Country over several days in June. Awards will be given to the world’s top fifty culinary establishments in a ceremony to be held in Bilbao. Four Basque restaurants currently feature on the list: Etxebarri, Mugaritz, Arzak and Azurmendi.

In the summer, it will be time for Bilbao’s premier musical event, the BBK Live. From the 12^th to the 14^th July, Kobetamendi will once again welcome over 100,000 people at a festival that is now firmly established in the national and international music calendar. Headline acts will include Gorillaz, The XX, The Chemical Brothers, David Byrne and Noel Gallagher.

The seventeenth stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a España will take place in Bizkaia on the 12^th September. The stage will commence in the Puerto Deportivo Marina in Getxo and finish on the summit of Oiz mountain, providing a picture postcard image of Bizkaia as it passes through La Arboleda, Gernika and Bermeo, amongst other places.

The climax of this shining year for Bizkaia will be the 25^th anniversary of the MTV EMA 2018, the European Music Awards of the MTV channel. Following several concerts in Bilbao, the great event will be held on the 4^th November at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), an evening of top class awards and performances at one of the world’s most impressive musical events.