Bilbao

This Month in Bilbao (March):

Shopping: The Mercado de la Ribera is one of the largest indoor food markets in Europe and well worth a visit. If three floors dedicated to fresh food aren't enough to tempt you, then the building itself will. Overlooking the river, at the heart of the Old Quarters, it's one of the city's most emblematic.

Sightseeing: Explore the indoor and outdoor exhibitions at Bilbao's Maritime Museum, where you'll find answers to everything you wanted to know about the maritime history of the region. Catch a temporary exhibition of big sailing ships until 13 March (Ramón de la Sota, tel: 94 608 5500).

Key areas: For a real taste of Spanish fiesta spirit, check out the San Jose celebrations in the Duesto area on 19 March. Alternatively, the nearby fishing village of Bermeo throws a wild party, too.

Day trips: Vitoria is the capital of the Basque country, and no trip is compete without a visit (the journey takes just over an hour). Once there, stroll around the streets, visit the amazing Artium Modern Art Gallery and enjoy a meal in one of the many restaurants.

Bilbao News & Gossip

The Big Debate on The Gran Scala Casino

YES
says Ian Wylie

Let me lay my cards on the table. I'm no gambler. And I'm no apologist for gambling. I once lost £20 before I'd even locked my car at Ascot racecourse, hustled by a tipster who thrust a brown envelope in my hand, then demanded "something for the stable lads". On the few occasions I've entered a casino, I've been rooted to the spot, hypnotised in terror by whirling roulette wheels and the sound of shuffling cards.

So I understand that for some, the idea of building the second largest gaming mecca in the world in Europe is deeply unsettling. Spain's answer to Vegas - the proposed €17bn Gran Scala project on the edge of the Los Monegros Desert, an hour's drive from Zaragoza - with its 32 casinos, hotels and five theme parks scattered over 2,025 hectares will hardly be discreet.

But I cannot deny the intoxicating appeal of gambling, the dopamine-pumping thrill of putting your very last chips on black. And since we cannot prevent people from seeking to satisfy that urge - after all, at some point you have to leave people to run (and ruin) their own lives - we should at least give them the chance to throw away their money in a relatively safe and controlled environment.

Why try vainly to slay the dragon when we can tame it? Let's use casino cities as agents for change and instruments of economic regeneration. Since casinos are labour-intensive, large "super" casinos can generate many jobs, not to mention the indirect employment from supporting businesses such as bars, restaurants and hotels, or existing businesses in the area looking to capitalise on an influx of visitors. Gran Scala's backers estimate the project will create jobs for 65,000 workers - not to be sneezed at in a country where the unemployment rate is in the high teens. And if, as is projected, the casinos there attract 15 million visitors a year, they will bring in €600m in taxes annually for the region. It's hardly surprising that many within the local population support the project.

Okay, I admit the scale of these benefits cannot be guaranteed. International evidence of casinos successfully regenerating their areas is patchy. But that's not to say it can't be done. Imagine a scenario where casino developers and government officials meet with local community leaders to agree a clear plan that shows how the casino will boost the local economy and how businesses can benefit. Say that in this plan there was a focus on tackling gambling addiction and minimising the risks of problem gambling. And let's envisage the casino operators agreeing to share, if not meet, the costs of these plans. Sure, it seems a long shot. But in the current economic climate, the prospect of more jobs, better infrastructure and improved living standards has to be worth a gamble, hasn't it?

Ian Wylie writes for the Financial Times and the Guardian

NO
says Rosie Carr

Like fools, gamblers and their money are soon parted. That knowledge is what drives the gambling industry to spend millions every year on advertising and glamorising the world of betting. Gambling is a hugely profitable business and the companies behind it have a strong incentive to present betting as little more than a pleasurable leisure activity that allows football fans to support their teams, card players to test their skills and the rest of us to invest a couple of euros in the hope of becoming a millionaire overnight.

Critics are dismissed as strait-laced bores who belong in the last century. After all, what's wrong with a bit of harmless fun, and who hasn't had a bet on a big race or bought a lottery ticket? I do it myself. But ask families whose lives have been turned upside down by gambling addiction if they think governments should be in cahoots with the gambling industry, and they'll tell a different story. Where gambling goes, addiction inevitably follows. To gamblers addicted to the high of placing a bet, nothing will be allowed to stand in the way of their next big win, whether it's their savings, their jobs, their marriage, or their family and friends.

In these days of plastic cards and easy access to loans, it doesn't take long for the gambler who's hooked to build up large debts. Some turn to crime to fund further gambling sprees and others steal from family. It all sounds eerily close to the drug addict's tale. So why do governments allow the gambling companies to keep on sucking in, well, new suckers every day and why is Europe on the verge of getting its own version of Las Vegas?

It's because casino cities help politicians to stay in power. Build a casino, or allow betting shops on every street corner, and you've solved two tricky problems at once: unemployment and tax shortfalls. Spain's Gran Scala is expected to create thousands of jobs and around €1bn in gambling taxes - music to any politician's ear.

But those jobs and money come at a high price. In Britain, betting shops were once allowed to open only for a few hours after lunch; now they can operate all day. Not surprisingly, there has been a steep rise in the number of gambling addicts. At more than 280,000, according to figures from the Gambling Commission, it's now higher than the number of heroin addicts. And as gambling companies target new markets, the number of female addicts has risen sharply.

Don't think that because Gran Scala is tucked away in a barren corner of Spain that you, your family and friends will be immune to its attractions. The developers will do their utmost to lure millions to it every year. An army of gambling addicts will be created, and no modern society can afford to turn a blind eye to this dangerous vice.

Rosie Carr is deputy editor of Investors Chronicle magazine

Bilbao Trivia

• March: The paving stones in Bilbao - the baldosas - are unique and their floral design is patented. Invented in the 1920s, they're now something of an institution. Visitors can buy chocolates, jewellery and other souvenirs in the same shape.

• February: On Shrove Tuesday, 16 February this year, instead of pancakes Basques eat a special sweet-bread pudding called torrija. You will find honey and cinnamon torrijas in the bars and cafés of Bilbao throughout the month.

• January: The Basque language has no swear words. This doesn't mean that Basque speakers don't swear, however - they just borrow words from Spanish or French, and even English on occasion.

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