Losada’s interest for the city of Bilbao in the mid-19th century heightened as a result of his collaboration in the stage design of Malvina, a comedy set in 1850 that premiered in 1914. His pastels, which represent that Romantic Bilbao, almost always during festivities and dressed up with many-coloured flags, were warmly received by the contemporary society of Bilbao.

This piece, painted in the second decade of the 20th century or later, shows the ease of the artist in the use of pastels, which is manifest in the reflections on the water.

This view of Bilbao amid celebrations, with the bridge of El Arenal in the background—also known as the bridge of Isabel II—as was common in his work, was set in the Romantic period. The construction of the bridge started in 1845, but the shrine structures on either side of the central elevating section of the bridge were removed in 1865, so the scene depicted must date from between 1850 and 1865. The dress of the figures in the foreground also fits this period. At the left of the composition we see the buildings of El Arenal, an area that had been developed in the mid-18th century. The ship with the blue and green hull painted by the dock of Ripa is El Volador, which Losada also drew in other pastels.