Commercial premises in Bilbao: properties from Casafari's property graph, checked against your brief

How many commercial premises are on the market in Bilbao?

As of 15 October 2026, Casafari's property graph for Bilbao included 2,262 retail premises (shops and retail units, often called lonjas in Bilbao), each counted once: 776 for rent and 1,642 for sale, as some are offered both ways. Across all types (retail premises, offices, warehouses and others), Claro counted 3,082 premises, for rent or for sale. The breakdown by type and tenure is below.

Unlike Madrid and Barcelona, Bilbao lists more retail premises for sale than for rent: 1,642 against 776 on 15 October 2026. Warehouses are few inside the municipality (20 for rent, 61 for sale); most logistics space lies elsewhere in the metropolitan area, which these counts do not cover.

Method: every agency's listing of the same unit is merged into one property in Casafari's property graph, refreshed nightly, and withdrawn premises are removed. The total of 3,082 counts each premises once. The rows below overlap, so they add up to more than 3,082. Our methodology guide explains how the counts are built.

Scope: these are properties published by agencies and read by Claro, not the city's full stock of premises. We found no census of premises in Bilbao Open Data; Eustat's directory of economic activities counts establishments across the Basque Country by municipality.

• Shops and retail premises (locales comerciales, lonjas): 776 for rent, 1,642 for sale (15 October 2026)
• Offices (oficinas): 453 for rent, 313 for sale (15 October 2026)
• Warehouses (naves): 20 for rent, 61 for sale (15 October 2026)
• Industrial units: none among Claro's properties on 15 October 2026
• Hotels: 0 for rent, 2 for sale (15 October 2026)
• Other commercial properties: 7 for rent, 9 for sale (15 October 2026)
• Total premises, all types, each counted once: 3,082 (15 October 2026)

What agencies say about Bilbao properties, and what they leave out

The features an expansion brief hinges on are often the ones agencies do not mention. Claro reads everything agencies say about each property and gives a verdict on every criterion: met, not met or not stated. 'Not stated' means the agencies are silent. It is a question for the agent, not a no.

Agencies in Bilbao rarely mention a food-service licence: 26 of the retail premises for rent stated one on 15 October 2026, and 742 were silent. For a bar or restaurant brief, expect 'not stated' on that criterion and ask the agent.

Below are the figures for retail premises for rent in Bilbao as of 15 October 2026. Each line comes from a single search and shows in how many matching properties the feature is stated and in how many it is not stated.

Footfall works differently: it is measured, not read from what agencies write. A brief asking for a footfall index of at least 20,000 within a five-minute walk matched 723 retail premises for rent on 15 October 2026. The figure was available for 704 of them and not stated for 19.

• Smoke outlet (salida de humos, the extraction duct a kitchen needs): stated for 178 properties, not stated for 589 (15 October 2026)
• Food-service licence: stated in 26, not stated in 742 (15 October 2026)
• Street level (a pie de calle): stated in 363, not stated in 397 (15 October 2026)
• Corner unit (local en esquina): stated in 57, not stated in 719 (15 October 2026)
• Shop window (escaparate): stated in 287, not stated in 487 (15 October 2026)

Where chains look in Bilbao: districts and commercial axes

Retail and food-service briefs in Bilbao mostly name Abando and its Ensanche: Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro, Ercilla, Rodríguez Arias, the Alameda de Urquijo and Alameda de Recalde, and the Indautxu area. The Casco Viejo, with its Siete Calles, Plaza Nueva and the streets around the Ribera market, draws retail and hospitality, as do Bilbao La Vieja and San Francisco.

Neighbourhood retail concentrates in Deusto, Santutxu in Begoña, Zabalburu and Rekalde. Office searches cluster in Abando and in Abandoibarra, the riverside business district, with Zorrotzaurre, the island under redevelopment, as a newer option.

• Name districts, streets or axes in your brief; Claro applies them as location criteria.
• Add footfall within a five-minute walk to compare streets on the same measure.
• For a bar or restaurant in the Ensanche or the Casco Viejo, check the municipal rules on new hospitality (below) before committing.

Rules that shape a shop or restaurant in Bilbao

A municipal ordinance, a Basque law and two planning instruments shape most food-service and retail sites in Bilbao. What follows summarises their scope only. Rules vary by municipality, depend on the exact activity and change over time. This is not legal advice: confirm with the Ayuntamiento de Bilbao or a licensed technician.

• Smoke outlet: the Ordenanza Municipal de Protección del Medio Ambiente (BOB, 10 June 2000), article 54, requires bars, restaurants and cafés that cook food producing smoke, gases or odours to extract them through an exclusive duct rising 2 metres above the building's eaves (bilbao.eus). Check for later amendments. See our smoke outlet guide.
• Licences: under the Basque Ley 10/2021 de Administración Ambiental de Euskadi, activities listed in its Annex I.C need a licencia de actividad clasificada and those in Annex I.D file a comunicación previa de actividad clasificada with the Ayuntamiento (BOPV). In Bilbao the comunicación previa is the usual route for a shop or a small restaurant. See our food-service licence guide.
• Ensanche: an amendment to Ordenanza nº 7 of the Plan General (in force since December 2016) classes the Ensanche's streets by segment, with segments closed to new bars and restaurants and minimum distances between them elsewhere. The 2022 Plan General carries its own hospitality rules; check its plan of hospitality conditions before shortlisting a site.
• Casco Viejo: the Plan Especial de Rehabilitación del Casco Viejo (2022) admits no new bars or restaurants in several zones, including Plaza Nueva, and sets minimum distances along the main commercial streets (SURBISA).
• Claro reports what agencies state about a smoke outlet or licence. It does not certify that a property complies with any ordinance, and it does not check hospitality distance rules.

Example briefs for Bilbao

Write a brief the way you would to an agent, or upload the one you already have in any language, Basque included. Claro turns it into criteria you can see and checks every property it holds in Bilbao against each one. Our guide to writing an expansion brief covers what to include.

Each result shows exact counts, a verdict per criterion (met, not met or not stated) and the agency's sentence behind it. It also shows footfall and residents around the address, nearby places, and a link to the agency's own listing page.

• Example brief: Pintxos and grill restaurant in Bilbao, Abando or Casco Viejo, street level, 100–200 m², smoke outlet, food-service licence, rent under €5,000 a month, a footfall index of at least 15,000 within a five-minute walk.
• Example brief: Gym in Bilbao, Deusto, Santutxu or Rekalde, 400–800 m², open-plan, ceiling height of at least 3 m, rent under €7,000 a month, at least 20,000 residents within a 10-minute walk.
• Example brief: Dental clinic in Bilbao, Indautxu or Abando, street level, 80–150 m², shop window, rent under €2,500 a month, residents within a 10-minute walk with above-average household income.
• Example brief: Franchise standard unit in Bilbao, Gran Vía, Ercilla or Rodríguez Arias, street level, 60–100 m², at least 5 m of frontage, shop window, a footfall index of at least 10,000 within a five-minute walk.

Run a free search for Bilbao

Anyone can run one free search on the homepage, with no sign-up. Type or upload your brief and see matching premises with exact counts, verdicts with evidence and the footfall around each one. A search that matches nothing does not use your free search.

More searches, every result, dossiers and side-by-side comparison are in Claro. Create a free account: your first search there is free, and after that you buy credits or choose a plan on your Casafari account.

Claro searches commercial premises across Spain by city or province, and new premises are added every night. Location figures and nearby places are shown, where available, for premises across Spain. See also Madrid and Barcelona.

• Madrid: commercial premises checked against your brief
• Barcelona: commercial premises checked against your brief
• Guide: smoke outlets (salida de humos)
• Guide: food-service licences
• Guide: writing an expansion brief
• How Claro counts and checks premises: methodology