Statue of drowning girl appears in Bilbao river to highlight sustainability issue

A lifelike face of a young girl drowning in the tide appeared in a Spanish river in Bilbao unannounced last week.

The figure is a piece from Mexican hyperrealist artist Ruben Orozco and is called Bihar, which means tomorrow in Basque.

In the clip, the statue of the brown-haired girl stands neck-deep in water.

The 120kg (265lbs) fibreglass figure becomes submerged and uncovered each day as the tide rises and falls on the River Nervion.

The figure is part of a campaign for the BBK Foundation, the charitable arm of Spanish lender Kutxabank, to encourage debate around sustainability.