Practical information for the WRI Council meeting (15-17 September 2012) Bilbao, State of Spain

Travel

Bilbao is located in the Basque Country, in northern Spain, at 15 km from the Atlantic Coast, about one hour away from the French border.

If you travel by plane, you can fly directly to the Bilbao Airport (BIO), situated 12 km away from town.

A taxi would cost you about 20-25 €. There is a cheap bus service from the airport to downtown, the Bizkaibus line 3247. It costs 1,35 € and stops in Bilbao at Gran Vía 79, plaza Moyua, Alameda Recalde,11 and ends up at the Bilbao Bus terminal, called Termibus (Calle Garrellano). From Bilbao, buses depart from 05:25 to 21:55 every 30 minutes; from the airport, between 6:15 and 00:00, every 30 minutes. Information number (from within Spain): 902 222 265.
More information on transport from the airport: http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Bilbao/en/Page…

If you are flying into Madrid (Barajas airport), the best option is to take a coach to Bilbao. From the airport you can go by metro to the bus terminal of Avenida de América, taking metro line 8 until Colombia station and switching to Line 9 until the Avenida de América station (see metro map:
http://www.metromadrid.es/acc_resources/pdfs/Plano_Metro_2008.pdf).

The bus line to Bilbao is operated by Alsa (phone: 902 42 22 42 from Spain; online ticket purchase: www.alsa.es). The trip lasts 4h45, with a 20 min stop half-way through. It costs 27€ or 41€ (supra class) one way. In Bilbao, you will arrive at Termibus. There are about 10-12 buses daily (with slight changes on weekend). You can check the web page for schedule. There is usually no space problem, so you can buy the ticket directly at the station. You can buy an open return ticket if you are not sure of your return date yet.

If you travel by train from Europe, you will probably arrive at Hendaye (on the French side) or Irun (across the Spanish border). From Irun, you can take a bus to Bilbao, the trip lasts 1h45, costs 8€ one way or 15€ roundtrip. There are 10 buses daily, including on Sundays. (more info at: http://www.alsa.es).

From Hendaye, you can also take a bus to Bilbao, but there are only a few connections a day (see http://www.pesa.net).
There are two buses, leaving from the front of the train station at 13:05 (arriving Bilbao at 15:40) and 19:35 (arriving Bilbao at 21:40).

If there is no bus leaving from Hendaye within a reasonable time, it might be better to take the local train (see below) to Irun Colon (two stops), and walk a few meters to the RENFE train station, from where ALSA buses to Bilbao depart. A map is available at
http://maps.cloudmade.com/iframe?&lat=43.34031702415009&lng=-1.79879665…

Another much slower, but more environmentally friendly option is to take the local train (Euskotren, also called "topo") from Hendaye train station to Donostia-San Sebastian (until the terminus, Amara Station) and change there to the Eusko trainline from Donostia to Bilbao (leaving every hour, the trip lasts almost 3 hours). A one-way ticket will cost you about 10€. You can find the schedules on the Euskotren website: http://www.euskotren.es/es/presentacioneuskotren (Spanish and Basque – no English). The timetable to/from Hendaye is the one for Zumaia-Hendaia.

Travel within Bilbao. You can get a Creditrans ticket (available at metro stations). The minimum amount is 5€, it can be used by various people and allows you to travel on bus and metro. Each trip is discounted from the ticket until money runs out.
Information on public transport in Bilbao is available online:

• MetroBilbao: http://www.metrobilbao.net/en?language=1
• BilboBus: http://www.bilbao.net/cs/Satellite?cid=3000048804&language=en&pagename=…

Arrival on Friday, 14 September

On Friday, we will have a buffet dinner at the office of KEM MOC from about 8pm until 10pm (directions see under “Venues”). Should you arrive earlier than 8pm, we would advice you to go straight to the hostel and check into your room first, before you come to the KEM MOC office. If you arrive at about dinner time, it might be best to come straight to the KEM MOC office, and check into the hostel later.

Housing

Most people will be staying at the BBK Bilbao Good Hostel. You can find more information about the Hostel at http://www.bbkbilbaogoodhostel.com/. We are getting in touch individually with the few people who will not be staying at the Youth Hostel to give them all relevant information for their stay. The rest of participants have their place booked at the Hostel, under their name, for the length of their stay. It is very important, if you have not done so, that you let us know when exactly you will arrive and leave. Send the information to info@wri-irg.org.

Access to/from the Youth Hostel:

The address of the youth hostel is:
Av.Miraflores, 16 - 48004 Bilbao
Tel. 944 597 759; Fax. 944 116 902; E-mail: info@bbkbilbaogoodhostel.com

You can find the Youth Hostel location on this Bilbao map: http://www.bbkbilbaogoodhostel.com/location/?lang=en

Arrival from Termibus bus station:

1. In the bus station you will find the Metro station. Take the Metro (direction Basauri or Etxebarri) and get off at Bolueta.
2. Exit the Metro station of Bolueta and walk a few meters. Turn right and proceed walking the slope for about 50 meters, reaching Bilbao-Galdakao road where you turn left. Continue for 150 meters until you reach the roundabout and you will find us in Avenida Miraflores, 16.

Arrival from Bilbao airport:

1. Exit the airport and at the bottom to your right you’ll find the bus stop. Take the bus line Bizkaibus A3247 Aireportua-Bilbo Linea and get off at the second stop, Plaza Moyua.
2. In Plaza Moyua, take the Metro (direction Basauri or Etxebarri) and get off at Bolueta.
3. Exit the Metro station of Bolueta and walk a few meters. Turn right and proceed walking the slope for about 50 meters, reaching Bilbao-Galdakao road where you turn left. Continue for 150 meters until you reach the roundabout and you will find us in Avenida Miraflores, 16.

Arrival by car:

1. If you come by the highway A-8, take exit BILBAO-MIRAFLORES.
2. At the roundabout, take the second exit Bolueta / N-634 DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIAN.
3. At 750 meters past the petrol station, turn slightly to the right direction BASAURI and you will find the hostel right there.

The hostel has parking for clients.

Venues for the Meetings

The Council meeting will be at ganbara espacio asociativo on Saturday and Monday only.
Ronda s/n (frente al nº5),
48005 Bilbao.
Tel. 94 656 92 00
Fax 94 416 88 64
ganbara@ganbara.net

On Sunday, the Council meeting will be at the BBK Bilbao Good Hostel (see under Accommodation).

We will have lunches and dinners in the office of KEM-MOC, Calle Fika 4, in the old part of town. See map below. We can go there by foot from the venue.
The nearest metro station is Casco Viejo. Take exit “Unamuno” and turn left to walk along Iturribide kalea, then turn left into Fika kalea – the KEM MOC office is then on your right after just a few metres.

General map of the Council related venues

You will find the location of the venues, the youth Hostel, and the KEM-MOC office on this map:
http://wri-irg.org/node/20206

Contact in Bilbao:

During the meeting, contact with Dominique Saillard, at saillard.domi@gmail.com for practical information.
Previous to the meeting (until 9 September), you can contact with Javier Garate, WRI office in London for information: javier@wri-irg.org

Mobile phone emergency number contact when you are in Bilbao:
(00 34) 699 84 65 36 or (00 34) 658 72 73 73.
Please only call if you really need help with something! If you get delayed or arrive when we might be in session, try and go directly to the venue or the Youth Hostel.