Rialia, the museum of the industry of Bizkaia in Portugalete

Discover the revamped Rialia Museum in Portugalete, a must-visit to understand industrialization in Bizkaia. Opened in 2016 and updated in 2023, it stands out for its interactivity.

Specialist Jaio de la Puerta has redefined the experience, merging valuable industrial art collections with innovative museographic elements. At Rialia, the visit becomes an active immersion, exploring emotions and sensations beyond the conventional.

R ialia, which stands on a large building, next to the waters of the Nervión estuary, on the seafront promenade that runs from Sestao to the Hanging Bridge and beyond, opened in 2016. Its objective: to be the museum of industry.

In 2023 the museum renewed the proposal of its essential permanent collection. The person responsible for this new vision has been the renowned specialist Jaio de la Puerta.

“The great challenge consisted in structuring and connecting the magnificent industrial art holdings of the museum’s collection with innovative museographic elements to present them in an attractive and interactive way,” explains de la Puerta.

One of the characteristics of Rialia is now the interactivity of the exhibition. “The visit brings with it active listening, not just hearing; another way of looking, not just seeing, seeking to involve the visitor in the process of communication. We are not talking about ‘pressing buttons’, we are talking about emotions and sensations, about listening, feeling, smelling, touching, as well as seeing and learning to look in a different way”, reveals the specialist.

The display integrates history, science, metallography, technology, music, literature, biology, ecology, etc.

All in Basque, Spanish and English and accessible to people with visual, mobility and hearing difficulties; Rialia is the most accessi- bilbon.biz ble museum in the Basque Country.

Furthermore, a visit to the museum is an almost complete sensory experience.

The collection brings together samples of two centuries of industrial history on the left bank of the estuary, between 1800 and 2000, consisting of photographs, materials, machinery, models, large format paintings, sound testimonies, music, minerals from a universe that marked the identity of the territory and its people and which has now disappeared.

A must.