litary coup was initially defeated by resistance led by the Basque Nationalists, anarchists and communists, but later that year the province fell to Spanish Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War. The occupation proved disastrous for the city dwellers: 380 were executed by the Spanish Nationalists, including the mayor, many children were evacuated to foreign countries and the city drained on an exodus estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants.
In the aftermath of war, the city was stricken by poverty, famine and repression, coupled with thriving smuggling. Many republican detainees were held at the Ondarreta prison in grim and humid conditions (building demolished in 1948) right at the beach with the same name. However, industry developed and paved the way for the urban expansion in the popular district Egia and eclectic styled Amara Berri, on the marshes and riverbed of the Urumea, at the end of the 1940s and beginning of the 1950s.
In 1943, the seeds of the Basque language schools were being sown by Elvira Zipitria, who started to give instruction in Basque at her own house in the Old Part. In 1947, the Grand Casino was turned into the City Hall. A decade later, in 1953, businessmen from the city organised the first San Sebastián International Film Festival to stimulate the economic life and national and international profile of the city.
The massive immigration from various parts of Spain, spurred by growing industrial production, greatly increased population, in turn bringing about a quick and chaotic urban development on the outskirts of the city (Altza, Intxaurrondo, Herrera, Bidebieta, etc.), but social, cultural and political contradictions and inequities followed, so sparking dissatisfaction. A general climate of protest and street demonstrations ensued, driven by Basque nationalists (especially armed separatist organisation ETA) and underground unions, triggering in 1968 the first state of emergency in Gipuzkoa. Several more
