Meaztegi Golf Course

Meaztegi Golf Course sits on high ground above La Arboleda in Ortuella, Bizkaia, where former iron-mining land has been reshaped into one of the Basque Country's most distinctive golf settings. From the course, the views open out over the Bilbao estuary and the port beyond, a backdrop few public courses in Spain can match.

Severiano Ballesteros designed the course himself, opening it in 2005 as the first public course owned by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, and his intent was clear: a technical, genuinely testing par 72 that stays accessible to golfers of every level. Four lakes weave through the round, three of them artificial, and the par-5 12th, running to 534 metres, is widely regarded as the toughest hole on the card. The terrain rises and falls with the old mining landscape, giving each hole its own character.

A driving range, practice greens, locker rooms and golf academy round out the facilities, alongside a separate 9-hole Par 3 course for sharpening the short game. For golfers who want a proper Ballesteros test paired with views most courses can't offer, Meaztegi is well worth the trip out from Bilbao.