The walk begins at the old flour factory El Pontón (1). Only the bakery building remains and it has been converted into an ikastola (a school where classes are taught exclusively in Basque). It was built in 1793 to ensure the supply of flour to Bilbao and, with its layout and division of labour and work areas, is considered the first significant industrial building in the Basque Country.

The fact that it looks like a monastery or a prison can attributed to both the lack of previous references and to the custom of setting new industries in buildings with a style which the inhabitants were familiar with.

The work is a building of Cultural Interest and is part of the neoclassical vanguard in Bizkaia. The building is a monumental cubic mass, with a four-pitched roof adapted to the slope of the terrain, with four floors on its south-eastern side and three on the other.

Due to its layout and division of labour and work areas, it is considered the first significant industrial building in the Basque Country

Interestingly, in the journey of destruction and rebuilding after the Carlist Wars, the building was occupied by Miraflores Lingerie Factory (1844-1874). Despite its name, it made raw canvas, tarpaulins and fabric for espadrilles and bags.

More info (Spanish)