Auñamendi Eusko EntziklopediaFund Bernardo Estornés Lasa

• Antecedentes

La Revolución Francesa se vivió en San Sebastián con especial intensidad. La cercanía de la frontera y el hecho de que muchos de sus habitantes fueran de origen francés, provocó un clima de espectación ante los acontecimientos que se desarrollaban en el vecino país. A partir del derrocamiento de Luis XVI muchos donostiarras, entre los que se contaba un importante número de simpatizantes de las ideas revolucionarias, empezaron a reunirse en tertulias para discutir los sucesos de Francia. Las autoridades civiles, militares y religiosas y, de modo especial, la Inquisición, se mostraban muy preocupadas, y así lo hicieron saber ante las más altas instancias del Estado, por el apego de muchos donostiarras a las máximas revolucionarias. Según estos informes, eran numerosos los jóvenes de San Sebastián, especialmente los de familias acomodadas, que abandonaban la peluca empolvada y se cortaban el pelo a lo "Felipe Igualdad". También llevaban chalecos bordados con motivos alusivos a la Revolución y pañuelos al cuello anudados "a la guillotina". Estas prendas, que fueron prohibidas por el corregidor de Guipúzcoa, eran la demostración de que hasta por medio de la indumentaria, cierta burguesía de San Sebastián hacía patente su adhesión a Francia.

La tertulia pro-revolucionaria más importante tenía lugar en la llamada "Casa del Café" situada debajo de la muralla meridional y propiedad de un suizo, Carlo Antonio Gravina. En esta cafetería, que en verano se convertía en heladería, se reunían los donostiarras adictos a la Revolución, junto con algunos forasteros, generalmente marinos, militares o comerciantes, a discutir sobre el nuevo orden político que estaba surgiendo en Francia. Esta tertulia estaba muy mal considerada por todos los partidarios del Antiguo Régimen. Uno de los primeros efectos visibles que tuvo sobre San Sebastián laRevolución Francesa fue la llegada masiva de clérigos y religiosas expulsados de su país por negarse a prestar el juramento cívico a la Constitución. Este contingente humano estuvo poco tiempo en la ciudad, pues el obispo de Calahorra, Aguiriano, pensaba que "a pesar de todo, eran franceses" y ordenó que fuesen trasladados lejos de la frontera. Pero en ese corto espacio de tiempo fueron constantemente insultados por donostiarras partidarios de la Revolución y dos de ellos, que se alojaban en el barrio de San Martín, resultaron seriamente heridos por las pedradas de unos arrieros navarros que paraban en las fondas del mencionado barrio. Estos hechos pueden dar idea del clima que se vivía en San Sebastián y explicar el posicionamiento de esta ciudad durante la Guerra de la Convención.

• Declaración de la guerra y desarrollo de los acontecimientos

En un acto de insensatez, producto de la lamentable política exterior española a la sazón dirigida por el favorito de la reina, Godoy, el rey Carlos IV declaró la Guerra a la República Francesa para vengar la muerte de su "querido primo" Luis XVI, que acababa de ser guillotinado. Después de un primer momento de euforia, en el que un ejército español, al mando del general Ventura Caro, atravesó el Bidasoa y se adentró en territorio francés, el ejército de la Convención, a pesar de estar envuelto en otra guerra con Austria, reaccionó contraatacando las posiciones españolas, que se vieron obligadas a retroceder. Pero los convencionales no se limitaron a recuperar el territorio francés invadido sino que se introdujeron en Gipuzkoa. El día 2 de agosto de 1794, la división del general Moncey, compuesta por 6.000 hombres, llegó hasta los muros de San Sebastián. El general francés envió un mensajero con dos pliegos, uno para el gobernador de la plaza, Alonso Molina, y otro para el alcalde de la ciudad, José Vicente de Michelena, pidiendo la capitulación.

Al día siguiente otro emisario, el capitán Latour D'Auvergne, entró en San Sebastián para parlamentar con las autoridades civiles y militares. Las baterías principales estaban sin cañones, pues éstos, por orden del general Ventura Caro, habían sido llevados a Irún. Tampoco había municiones y no se disponía de víveres suficientes para soportar un asedio. Además, los efectivos militares estaban incompletos. De los tres batallones que guarnecían la plaza, uno, compuesto por tropas forales, se había dispersado, yéndose cada uno a su casa sospechando la magnitud de lo que se avecinaba. Otro batallón estaba formado por quintos recién llegados y sin instrucción. Solamente quedaba un batallón apto para entrar en combate. Ante la desigualdad de las fuerzas, tanto la junta de vecinos como la militar juzgaron que lo mejor era rendirse. Convenida la capitulación entre el gobernador y el general francés, la plaza fue ocupada el 4 de agosto.

El alcalde Michelena consiguió, entre las condiciones de la rendición, que la ciudad fuese considerada territorio neutral. El 5 de agosto ya se hacía vida normal en San Sebastián. Las tiendas estaban abiertas y todas las actividades de la ciudad se desarrollaban con orden. El ejército francés permaneció ocupando la plaza hasta que se hizo la paz entre la monarquía española y la República Francesa, por el tratado de Basilea del 22 de julio de 1795. Entonces abandonaron San Sebastián sin violencia. Se sabe muy poco de lo que ocurrió durante los meses en que la ciudad permaneció bajo control francés. Hay un gran vacío documental sobre esta época, producido en parte por el incendio del archivo donostiarra en 1813. Parece que las autoridades francesas se comportaron correctamente con la ciudad que, por otra parte, tampoco les dió motivos de queja y, aunque, según algunos autores, la guillotina fue instalada en la Plaza Nueva -situada donde está en la actualidad la Plaza de la Constitución- sólo funcionó dos veces y en ningún caso fue utilizada contra ciudadanos donostiarras. Un clérigo francés, refractario, que por estar enfermo no había salido de San Sebastián y un desertor del ejército convencional fueron las únicas víctimas de ese artefacto emblemático de la Revolución.

• Consecuencias

Después de la Paz de Basilea la situación de San Sebastián en el seno de la monarquía española se hizo muy incómoda. El comportamiento de los donostiarras, así como el de otros muchos guipuzcoanos que tampoco opusieron resistencia al ejército francés, fue considerado como sospechoso de infidencia. El preámbulo de "provincia traidora", que desdichadamente volvería a ser utilizado en el siglo XX, encabezó algunos documentos oficiales. Como represalia, en junio de 1795 los alcaldes donostiarras perdieron los derechos de custodia sobre las puertas de la ciudad. Un funcionario civil, llamado capitán de llaves, se hizo cargo de ese antiguo privilegio municipal. En los primeros días de 1796, un consejo de guerra reunido en Pamplona analizó el comportamiento de los militares de la plaza de San Sebastián, que fueron considerados culpables de alta traición.

En el mismo orden de cosas, el 19 de febrero, el alcalde donostiarra, José Vicente de Michelena y los jurados municipales José Antonio Lozano y José Joaquín de Larburu fueron arrestados y conducidos a la ciudadela de Pamplona. El consejo de guerra, que fue largo y ruidoso, finalizó con la absolución de los encausados, pero la sospecha de infidencia siguió gravitando sobre San Sebastián y su provincia. Esta situación fue utilizada por Godoy para arreciar en su política de desmantelamiento de los fueros y privilegios de las provincias vascongadas. El canónigo Llorente, prototipo de historiador al servicio de una causa política, o más bien, de la causa política que mejor convenía en cada momento, fue encargado, con ayuda de la documentación recogida en los archivos vascos por Vargas Ponce, de demostrar que los fueros y privilegios de las provincias vascongadas no se debían a un pacto entre éstas y la Corona, sino a una concesión real que podía, por lo tanto, ser revisada unilateralmente.

The first phase of dismantling the privileges that San Sebastián had enjoyed since the Middle Ages was the segregation of the port of Pasajes , which, at least since the 12th century, had been under San Sebastian jurisdiction. As has been seen, there had always been disputes San Sebasti n and the towns of Rentera, Oiartzun and, of course, Pasajes, because of the rights over the aforementioned port, but they had almost always been resolved favorably for San Sebastian.

However, in 1805, a royal decree promoted by the results of the report by Vargas Ponce, ordered the port to pass under royal jurisdiction, remaining under the government of the royal navy. At the same time, a new municipality of Pasajes was formed, merging that of San Juan -which until 1771 had belonged to Hondarribia- and that of San Pedro, which was under San Sebastian jurisdiction. Civil jurisdiction over the waters of the port was divided the new municipality, Rentería and Lezo, the riverside towns that had always disputed rights to the port with San Sebasti n. Thus came an end to a concession of Sancho the Wise that was more than six centuries old.

As a consequence of the Napoleonic defeat and the battle of Vitoria (June 21, 1813), Donostia (9,104 h.) will experience the most painful episode in its history, its burning and almost total destruction. Gipuzkoa had already been occupied by the French in 1808 and, in February 1810, it formed part of the Government of Vizcaya instituted by Bonaparte. In the withdrawal, Donostia and its castle of La Mota were going to constitute the key point of the French resistance against the siege of the "liberating" allied troops of British, Portuguese, German, Croatian, Swedish, Polish, Dutch, etc., commanded by the Duke of Wellington and based in Hernani. The British Graham ordered the siege (July 3) of the city, which was taken, in the fourth assault, from the flank of the wall of the Urumea now called and since then "the Breach", on August 31, 1813, without the slightest scruple regarding the fate of the civilian population of San Sebastian weighing on the assailants and their higher command. The rain of projectiles came from the batteries of Ulia, El Chofre, San Bartolomé and Santa Clara Island.

The out-of-control soldiery sacked the city for a week, killed more than a thousand inhabitants, tortured those suspected of keeping money or jewelry, raped women, and set fire to buildings, including the town hall (with its archives) and consulate. Streets of Donostia before the fire of 1813. In front of the Dock, Nueva or outside the wall, Campanario, Mayor, Narrica, San Juan, Zurriola or Santa Ana, Trinidad (the main one, today August 31), San Vicente, I igo , Embeltr n, Puyuelo, Atocha or de la Higuera (today, part of Sarriegui square), Igentea, Pozo, Old Square (today Bulevard), Nueva Square (today Constituci n), Angel streets, Perujuancho Escotilla or San Jerónimo , Juan de Bilbao, Ureta (today Pescadera), Esterlines and Lorencio (later San Lorenzo). Only the "quality" inhabitants who had already taken refuge in other towns or in their country residences were saved from the catastrophe, the two parishes (San Vicente and Santa María), San Telmo and the 36 houses that bordered the castle (today 31 de Agosto street) of the more than 600 houses and palaces that make up the neighborhood. The rest of the population, the extramural neighborhoods of San Martín, Santa Catalina, San Francisco and El Antiguo, were also destroyed during the siege.

On September 8 the castle capitulated; Wellington , deaf to the civil tragedy, allowed what was left of the 3,000 Frenchmen commanded by General Rey to come out with a bang. Lord Lidenoch, in command of the assailant troop, was decorated... The painful start of the contemporary Age must be located, in the case of our city, in the meeting held that same day in the "Aizpurua" farmhouse of Zubieta, when the San Sebastián authorities and the survivors gathered together, "pale, haggard, pierced by pain", decided to rebuild the same (currently old part) with their own efforts, preserving the old urban place names and surrounding it with walls. The municipal regiment was made up before the fire by the mayors Miguel Antonio de Bengoechea and Manuel de Gogorza, the councilors José Santiago de Claessens, José M. de Leizaur, José M. a de Olázaga, Pedro Fermán de Elizondo, José M. of Ezeiza, José Antonio de P rraga, the trustee Joaqu n Bernardo de Armend riz and the secretary José Joaqu n de Arizmendi.

When the 19th century begins, San Sebastián appears as a small city in serious economic difficulties. Its brilliant mercantile past during a large part of the 18th century had already begun its decline since the last decades of that century, putting the thriving social group that had formed under the lee of the mercantile exchanges maintained by San Sebastián in a delicate situation. n Europe and America. This business bourgeoisie saw how the foundations of their wealth sank with the progressive loss of the colonies, the wars with England and France, the Bourbon policy willing to end Basque tax exemptions, due to the lack of of a peninsular internal market and, in general, due to the breakdown of the traditional structures of the Old Regime on which San Sebastián had supported its development. This loss of the main supports of the economy of San Sebastián generated discontent in its mercantile bourgeoisie that would make it a key player in the events that were to take place.

Fragmentos de las declaraciones testificales juradas procedentes de la Información instruida en noviembre de 1813 sobre la conducta observada por las tropas aliadas en el asalto de Donostia (días 31 de agosto y siguientes):

The decomposition of the absolutist edifice, of which the San Sebastian crisis is but one example, heralded its replacement by a new order of values, the constitutional one. The new model of society and the economic aspirations advocated by it enjoyed immediate acceptance among the bourgeoisie of San Sebastian who saw its implementation as the only way to overcome the difficulties in which they found themselves immersed. However, such claims collided head-on with the interests and attitudes of an eminently agricultural Province, consumer and determined defender of its secular code. Like the rest of the Spanish or foreign bourgeoisie, the easonense coveted the recognition of the political rights of citizens -understood within the limits of the time-. This in practice translated into the elevation of all San Sebastian to the same legal status.

It also meant their participation in public life in the face of discrimination that until then had meant values such as nobility or purity of blood. In Guipzcoa, the significance of such a claim was extreme given the demands of both requirements for holding any public office. San Sebastian society had traditionally been characterized by its great economic mobility, its social permeability and the frequent foreign origin of many of its members. Therefore, these wealthy people with social prestige but lacking in said recognition of nobility could not allow the nobility, admitted in the Province as an unquestionable principle, to prevent their participation in municipal politics. Therefore, the implementation of the constitutional will pave the way to public life for the economically strongest class in the city, the mercantile bourgeoisie. But if the socio-political aspirations occupied a very prominent place in the ideas of San Sebastian, it was the economic interests that seem to have most directly influenced certain inclinations or s presented by the easonense City Council.

It was only from the moment that the mercantile bourgeoisie of the city realized the impossibility of overcoming its crisis within the traditional Gipuzkoan structure, when it decided to look for new channels. Until that moment, and despite the fact that ideologically there was already a substantial difference with the Province, it tolerated its foral regime as long as it could benefit from it. But since by the beginning of the 19th century the economic deterioration of San Sebastián was an unquestionable fact, as was the impossibility of overcoming it within the traditional , its authorities (City Hall and Consulate), who acted as true spokespersons for the mercantile class, understood that in order to to achieve its recovery, it was essential to transform the structures of the regime and with them, those of the Gipuzkoan customary . Thus, their main demands centered on the "Spanishization" of the Gipuzkoan territory by enabling its port to trade directly with Overseas, without the need to do so through authorized or foreign ports; and the transfer of customs to the coasts and border.

The implementation of any of these provisions meant an attack against provincial privileges and required, at least, the partial modification of the regional code. This provoked a confrontation the city and the provincial estates accustomed to tax exemptions and, therefore, still see San Sebastian's demands as an attack against the Fuero. San Sebastián was aware of the importance of their s and the danger of provincial dismemberment that they involved. However, at no time was it considered turning back, since its only objective was to achieve the recovery of its economy at any price. And the price, in this case, was none other than the modification of the Fuero. This complex network of aspirations, in authentic communion with the liberal ideology, made San Sebastián fight at all times to maintain its municipal organization within the general laws of the State.

La implantación de los ordenamientos liberales en la administración municipal, y la influencia decisiva que sobre ella tuvo la gran inestabilidad política de la época, rompieron los modelos tradicionales de la municipalidad donostiarra, al dar al traste con el equilibrio que había caracterizado a la estructura y configuración del Regimiento entre los siglos XVI y XIX.

• Sociedades Patrióticas en Donostia

En San Sebastián se fundó, en mayo de 1820, una Sociedad Patriótica liberal, llamada en un principio "Tertulia Constitucional de la Balandra o Reunión patriótica de varios amigos" -denominación que cayó en desuso- y posteriormente se la conoció como la "Sociedad Patriótica". Estuvo constituida exclusivamente por elemento burgués, a diferencia de las de otras localidades donde participaban personajes revolucionarios y extremistas, así como intelectualidad y aristocracia liberal. Del discurso inaugural de su primer presidente, José María de Labayen, destacamos frases como: "el absolutismo tiene hechadas (sic) profundas raíces, es preciso arrancarlas sin dejar una", "las maquinaciones ocultas de los corifeos de la esclavitud han conducido al pueblo a tal ignorancia...", "Es preciso pues ilustrarse: es el deber que se impone desde esta primera sesión esta reunión de amigos". Para esta tarea común de educar al pueblo, la Tertulia de la Balandra argumenta el medio de la moderación como más indicado para la labor. La Sociedad deseaba desde sus comienzos expresarse por medio de una publicación periódica: en junio de 1820 se envía el proyecto al Jefe político de Guipúzcoa, que aparece en julio y que se titulará El Liberal Guipuzcoano. Se publicaba los lunes y viernes, siendo de este periódico del que tomaba las noticias del extranjero la mayoría de la prensa española, por su eficacia informativa en este aspecto. Entre sus redactores se contaban, amén de Labayen, Cándido de Almeida, Pablo de Mendívil, José Elías de Legarda, Lorenzo Sánchez y Paulino Rodríguez Mutiozábal. Durante su funcionamiento, hasta finales de 1822, la Sociedad Patriótica participó muy activamente en los asuntos generales y políticos de la Provincia que, al contrario que la capital, tradicionalmente liberal, contaba con nutrido elemento conservador, teniendo la Tertulia varios roces con el clero guipuzcoano que admitía pasivamente, incumpliendo, decretos y órdenes de las Cortes. [Ref. Gil Novales: "Las Sociedades Patrióticas...", I].

• Los Cien Mil Hijos de San Luis

El 7 de abril de 1823 atraviesan las tropas francesas al mando del Duque de Angulema el río Bidasoa por Behobia e Irún. Son cinco cuerpos de ejército y uno de reserva que avanzan, sin apenas resistencia, hacia el interior de la península. La Junta provisional del Gobierno de España e Indias establece su sede en Oiartzun. Donostia, de la que habían huido muchos liberales, algunos de los cuales siguieron resistiéndose en La Coruña, fue bloqueada hasta su capitulación el 27 de agosto. El nuevo ayuntamiento, absolutista, al frente de Francisco Antonio de Echagüe, penetró en la ciudad escoltado por las tropas del general Conde de Ricart, el 10 de octubre. Entretanto, debido al pánico, de los 6.000 habitantes de San Sebastián sólo habían permanecido 200. Un grupo de soldados de la guarnición asesinó y despeñó desde Urgull, en la noche del 3 al 4 de mayo, a un presbítero y a 7 frailes del convento de San Telmo.

Por otra parte, la lucha en el seno de los propios liberales una vez alcanzado el poder marcó la intervención gubernamental en la política consistorial, por cuanto que el control del Ayuntamiento implicaba también el de las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados. Esta intromisión del Estado, a través de los mecanismos electorales y del nombramiento de los principales empleos de República, puso en grave peligro la independencia de la institución concejil respecto del poder central. Así, desde los primeros años del reinado de Isabel II las autoridades de Madrid facultaron a la ciudad para regirse de acuerdo con los ordenamientos municipales constitucionales, pese a lo cual, a nivel provincial, continuó dependiendo de las instituciones forales tradicionales. La institucionalización de dicha situación, totalmente anómala, creó un caso verdaderamente atípico, en primer lugar, por cuanto legalizaba la coexistencia en una misma provincia de dos administraciones antagónicas y, en segundo término, porque convertía a San Sebastián en una entidad constitucional directamente dependiente de unas autoridades forales.

• Asedio carlista durante la Primera Guerra

Por último las tropas carlistas tuvieron bloqueada esta plaza desde el mes de noviembre de 1835 en adelante; habiéndose apoderado en primer lugar del punto fortificado de Arambarri y convento de San Bartolomé en 27 del mismo. Desde entonces la ciudad de San Sebastián se vió estrechada completamente; de modo que sólo podía disponer del terreno contenido dentro de sus muros. En tal estado Don José Ignacio de Uranga. general carlista que la asediaba. La bombardeó en la noche del 7 al 8 de diciembre, sin más resultado que el de la destrucción de algunos edificios; por lo que, y por haberse inutilizado los morteros, se suspendió el fuego. El cónsul francés que residía en la misma ciudad pidió además se suspendiesen las ilidades en tanto que los súbditos de su nación la abandonasen; lo que contribuyó a que cesase del todo el ataque de la artillería, limitándose en adelante a la fusilería. Así se continuó hasta el 5 de mayo de 1836, en que los sitiadores fueron expulsados de las líneas con el auxilio de La ruptura entre San Sebastián y la Provincia no se produjo de golpe sino que siguió un largo y tortuoso proceso.

En un primer momento la ciudad intentó compatibilizar la conservación de algunos derechos forales con la consecución de sus aspiraciones, a fin de evitar mayores enfrentamientos. Pese a tales propósitos, desde el comienzo quedó patente la imposibilidad de alcanzar un acuerdo consensuado, pues lo que en realidad los donostiarras estaban cuestionando en aquellos debates era la suplantación del régimen foral por el nuevo orden burgués. La brecha entre ambas entidades se fue agrandando a medida que la burguesía easonense se fue reafirmando como clase y fue adquiriendo conciencia de su propia personalidad. Esto provocó en ella una radicalización aún mayor, generando un rechazo creciente y obstinado por parte de las instituciones provinciales, lo que a su vez acrecentó la intransigencia de la ciudad. Por este motivo, San Sebastián, contando además con el respaldo de la derrota carlista, acabó solicitando abiertamente la abolición del Fuero y planteando, incluso, su desanexión de la Provincia y su incorporación a Navarra (1840-1841).

From the economic point of view, the behavior of the bourgeoisie in San Sebastián gradually took shape in the lee of the times and the most profitable opportunities of the moment, that is, the fire of 1813, the untying regulations and the desiccation of the marshes that surrounded the city.

• consequences of the fire

Undoubtedly, of all of them, the fire was the one with the greatest repercussion because it gave way to a completely new situation. Since, although it is true that it was a catastrophe for the most disinherited, for those whose only asset was a place to live and they lost it, it is also true that it offered an exceptional investment opportunity for those who managed to save their wealth before destruction. And this affected more people than is normally thought. For this reason, many of those who were able or knew how to escape in time -and among them were some of the largest businessmen in the market- channeled a very considerable part of their capital towards real estate investment, both urban and rural. Thus, while the authorities were arguing about the best plan for its reconstruction, San Sebasti n suffered authentic urban chaos. The lots destroyed by the flames were filled with shacks and all kinds of temporary buildings that, on numerous occasions, were rented at increasingly abusive prices and conditions.

• industrial tests

The customs modification sanctioned by the Decree of October 29, 1841 laid the foundations for modern industrial development in Gipuzkoa. Under the protectionism favored by the new tariff barriers and by the opening of the peninsular internal market, some people from San Sebastian launched into the field of industrial investment. Diversification constitutes one of the main characteristics of these first industrial trials. This refers to both the affected branches (mineral extraction, metal transformation, paper, textiles and, to a lesser extent, manufacture of earthenware and porcelain); such as the fact that shareholders used to distribute their capital in multiple companies without ing a preference for a certain sector; And, finally, because although the mercantile clans played a fundamental role as promoters of these companies, on occasions, it was much more modest merchants who bore the greatest weight of the investment. Another fundamental aspect in relation to the easonense intervention in the industrial sector is the limitation regarding the number of people who are interested in it. However, the most prominent aspect of this type of intervention lies in the fact that investors considered their industrial businesses a sideline in their economy. For this reason, although the people of San Sebastian were the initiators of the industrial process in Guipázcoa, understood in its modern forms, the manufacturing sector was never the most important of their businesses for them, since commerce continued to be its true protagonist.

• Predominant business activity

Although the presentations and declarations presented by the City Council and the Consulate (later the Board of Trade) before the provincial and state authorities described the economic situation of the city with truly dramatic overtones, the truth is that they did not accurately reflect the San Sebastian reality. Thus, in the face of the commercial bankruptcy denounced in those writings, the analysis of the economic activities of the moment has n that throughout the first half of the 19th century, the easonian bourgeoisie continued to develop its mercantile businesses uninterruptedly, Certainly becoming prosperous those related to the traffic of colonials. In this sense, they even expanded their relations through their participation in ships that left French ports, mainly Bordeaux, bound for "French islands" or America. The maintenance of these relations, mainly with Cuba, in which both large and medium-sized merchants participated, had to necessarily alleviate the loss of the continental colonies and, in general, the economic difficulties of the city. However, in the peninsular commercial exchanges, San Sebasti n had to face numerous obstacles originating as a consequence of the greater competitiveness of foreign products and the high tariffs to which Gipuzkoans were subjected before the customs modification. This predominance of the eminently commercial character of San Sebasti n, which even manages to maintain itself despite the difficulties and distortion of its traditional businesses, largely conditioned municipal politics and the exacerbated liberalism of its inhabitants. Also contributing to this was the fact that throughout this stage the city's great bourgeois nucleus was closely related to and represented in the council elite. This class maintained, on the other hand, a great internal cohesion thanks to an active marriage policy that strengthened the economic ties the different family clans.

In short, it can be affirmed that throughout the first half of the 19th century, San Sebastian society and City Council were directed by the main economic sector of the city, which ensured the possibility of ing and maintaining a fully prone policy. to his economic activities and his socio-political ambitions. In this way, the mercantile bourgeoisie directed the destinies of the municipal entity in order, among other things, to achieve the implementation of a new model of society that would allow it to develop economically and maintain political power. For this reason, when San Sebastián finally managed to revoke those principles of traditional Gipuzkoan society that were opposed to its interests, and obtained a sufficient guarantee of its permanence in the general regime of the State, its aspirations in the political order did not go further. From this moment, which chronologically could be set at 1844, he abandoned the radicalism that had characterized his actions in previous decades and followed, at least for a few decades, along paths that from the social and economic point of view mico tended to conservatism, ceasing to be innovative.

The transfer of customs to the coast in 1841 marks the beginning of the profound transformations that took place in the city. If in the decade of the 40s San Sebasti n had approximately 10,000 inhabitants, these figures began a sustained and continuous increase. The 1860 census s the figures of 14,111 San Sebastian, which became 37,812 in 1900, 49,008 in 1910 and 78,432 in 1930. This intense population growth of only 25% is attributable to natural growth. This, for its part, carried out the evolution of modernization: the birth rate was decreasing, going from 40.3% in 1867 to 21.3% in 1930, while the decrease in mortality was 27 % of 1867 and 15.4% of 1930. Although both birth and mortality rates were still high in 1930, the path that has been traveled is long. The increase experienced by the population of San Sebasti n in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th was fundamentally due to a significant immigration alerted by the new job opportunities offered to the expanding city.

The laying of the Northern railway, the demolition of the walls , the urbanization process and the construction of the Ensanche were at the origin of the arrival of workers from neighboring rural areas to the Basque Country. The development of San Sebasti n as a tourist city (Isabel II and her family came in August 1845 to take baths) attracted people dedicated to the service sector, employees in hotels, restaurants and shops, maids and generally low-skilled employees. , while, to a much lesser extent, the recently acquired provincial capital, along with the development of commerce and industry, attracted civil servants, liberal professionals, managers, small businessmen, and merchants. The beginning of the economic recovery in the first place occurred within the traditional economic activity of the city, which was commerce, but soon the merchants who, under the protection of the favorable situation, saw their capitals increase, carried out with They invested again when commercial capital began to promote the nascent Gipuzkoan industry.

As indicated before, the majority of the inhabitants of this intramural city are dedicated to commerce; and another part is used in fishing and navigation. Its industry consists of six factories for hydraulic lime, one for matches, one for beer, one for wallpaper, some espadrilles, rigging ropes, sails, chocolate mills, the construction of oars and cabinet-making workshops. , hardware, tin, etc. The rest of the inhabitants are employed in tilling the ; whose wheat harvests are scarce, those of corn are good, particularly in the lowlands of Loyola, El Antiguo and others. It abounds in apple orchards, with whose fruit a lot of good cider is made; and all kinds of vegetables are also grown, which are sold daily by the landlady in the square. [Goros bel: Dictionary ..., 1862].

The installation of this industry occurred very rarely in the capital itself, but it was mainly from San Sebastian who promoted the new Gipuzkoan companies so that a bourgeoisie settled in the city, aware of its new power, which soon demanded the necessary changes so that the city will adapt to your needs. The entry of economic benefits made the transformation possible at the same rate as the one that was taking place among its inhabitants. San Sebasti n, financial center of the province, definitively acquired the category of administrative center when it was granted capital status in 1854. The need to reorganize communications and develop them came at a time of expansion of transport networks in Spain, especially of the railway. In 1864 the Madrid-Ir route was inaugurated as it passed through San Sebasti n. This was the first railway connection Spain and Europe. In 1847, communication by road had already been reformed: until then San Sebasti n was outside the route of the royal road that crossed Guipzcoa and that from Tolosa to Iran followed the Andoain, Urnieta, Hernani, Astigarraga and Oiartzun route, while San Sebasti n connected with Ir n through some insignificant roads. The new route from Tolosa and Andoain continued towards Lasarte, San Sebasti n and Rentera.

For long centuries, San Sebastián had the double character of a commercial city, together with its configuration as a military stronghold, a function of profound repercussions and conditions. The transformations that were taking place in the field of war forced a restructuring of the defensive concept. For this reason, in 1856, San Sebasti n appeared on the list of strongholds that the army planned to dismember and vacate. At the same time, the population of San Sebastian made the demolition of the walls an essential and vital objective for its expansion. By the time this occurred in 1863, the city had already begun the series of economic and social transformations that have been mentioned up to now and that made expansion more and more urgent, otherwise they would still be strangled. The municipal architect Antonio de Cortázar, planner of the Ensanche that bears his name, wrote in 1863 in this regard: "a matter of life or death soon... demolition of the walls without which it will be condemned to perish morally suffocated, destroying the brilliant future that is reserved for it".

In effect: by this time San Sebasti n had given a new impetus to its commerce, directing it for functional reasons to the port of Pasajes and thanks to its status as the capital it was the organizing center of provincial life. In addition, another factor of great importance had begun to consolidate: the summer holiday, which was also going to boost the economic dynamism of the city. For all these reasons, the authorities and citizens were convinced that its expansion necessarily involved the demolition of the walls. Successive demolition s in 1857, 1858, 1860, had been rejected. It was not an isolated event: the demolition meant ceasing to be a military post and although this was foreseen by the Government, the final decision was made to wait. After some difficulties had been overcome and the last formalities had been overcome, such as the Royal Order of 4-22-1863, by which the city ceased to be a war place, on May 4, 1863, the demolition work of the walls began amid joyous festivities. It was only a question of opening some provisional gaps at various points to allow passage, until the final permit was received. The maestro Santesteban composed a hymn for the occasion, whose first verse said:

But not all difficulties were resolved. The Corporation was informed that the Ministry of Finance had the intention of seizing the land of the walls and fortifications whose sale the city was counting on to cover the costs of the demolition. After new negotiations in the Court, the Ministry of Finance agreed to reach an agreement. While in a box at the Teatro Principal, Mayor Eustasio Amilibia received a telegram from the Duke of Mandas informing him that the Government had finally agreed to the demolition. Amilibia interrupted the performance and told the audience the content of the telegram. The people of San Sebastian recorded the joy with which they received the news, standing up, clapping and cheering. Finally, the decree to demolish the walls was signed on April 28, 1864.

Two years earlier, the City Council had already called a project competition for the expansion of the city to which twelve contestants applied. Unanimously, the first prize was awarded to the one designed by the San Sebastian architect Antonio de Cortázar . His plane was called "Future". The prize was endowed with 12,000 reales. The second prize was awarded to the architect Mart n Sarac bar who received 6,000 reais for his plan called "Valladolid". The memory that accompanied Cortázar's project distributed the population according to their belonging to a certain social group: the richest and most affluent class of the neighborhood was located in the center of the population, sheltered from the winds that they were considered more uncomfortable; the second group, called that of the floating population and bathers, was located in front of the beach and, finally, the working classes settled in the lower part of the San Martín neighborhood and in the southern area of the new population .

Cortázar's project responded to the concerns of the bourgeoisie in San Sebastián: along with the beauty of the city, which would facilitate the development of tourism, other concerns were present again, such as hygiene and health, the ventilation of homes, thinking, through all this, to reduce mortality. The successes of Cortázar's project were numerous: the union the new and the old city taking Calle Mayor as its axis and starting point, the size of the blocks proportional to that of the Eixample itself, the edges of the bay raised As a garden city, they are some of the most remarkable. Cortázar's original plan underwent certain modifications, among which were some proposals for the Saracbar project such as the Boulevard, the construction of which provoked a very heated controversy that divided the people of San Sebastian into two camps, in favor or against said plan. Mall. Once the permission for the demolition of the walls arrived and it was carried out, rapid expansion began according to the successively reformed Cortázar project. This, in addition to the contribution of Saracbar, received those of two other architects: José Eleuterio de Escoriaza, who is responsible for the Plaza de Guipzcoa, and José de Goicoa, author of the Amara Viejo project. They were years of great business and also of controversies and disputes: there was speculation with the land, the owners of plots saw their land revalued, they bought, sold, they fought for enclaves and heights of the buildings, for street widths. In short, for everything that could generate an increase or decrease in rapid profits.

In 1870 the Municipal Corporation obtained the necessary permits to expand the population to the northwest and south, exceeding the limits of the Cortázar plain. Thus, nine years after the approval of the first part of the Ensanche, another two were approved: the Meridional and Oriental Ensanches which, together with the San Martín neighborhood, were this time the scene of the same disputes and speculative practices that They already emerged as soon as the walls were demolished. The disputes revolved around the public or private ownership of the land and the building rights that the owners defended. The Ensanche Meridional or Amara, which coincides with the southern sector of the Cortázar project, underwent many modifications: the jail for the current schools was transferred from Urbieta street to Ondarreta; The City Council decided on the location of the Buen Pastor against the opinion of Cortázar himself in its current location and the projected pier on Amara beach disappeared. The years of the Second Carlist War stopped the construction efforts. The city, contrary to the majority of the province, did not fall into the hands of the Pretender but was subjected to the bombardment of his cannons from September 28, 1875 to February 16, 1876, when the blockade ended, upon abandoning the Carlists their positions at Mendizorrotz and Arratsain, both in the immediate vicinity.

In the 19th century, a new and different relationship with nature was fostered. Sea baths are beginning to be recommended for their therapeutic virtues and San Sebasti n was one of the points chosen for taking said baths. When the Ensanche de Cortázar began, the city already had a colony of vacationers and the rectors of municipal life fully invested in this facet, promoting it to the maximum. The fact that San Sebastián became a summer resort of the first magnitude did not respond to chance but was a choice made by its ruling classes who knew how to see the exceptional natural conditions that the city offered and to which the favor of the city contributed. Royal family. In the 1940s, the first booths appeared on the beach that the City Council authorized the families that ed it to place; a little later booths were put up as a public service.

A mercantile city was becoming another, of qualified services; San Sebastián was the most frequented fashionable beach in the North, which keeps industrial activity away from it; the scarce that is carried out in its terms is quite far from the urban space. The general organization of the city submitted to the imperatives of a high-level summer resort: palaces and other private residences, hotels, public buildings such as the Gran Casino in 1887, the Hotel María Cristina , the Victoria Eugenia Theater and La Perla as spa and nightclub in 1912, the Grand Casino Kursaal in 1922, were shaping a city that responded to the aesthetic and hygienic criteria of the time. Although Elizabeth II had already spent the summer on several occasions in San Sebasti n, from where she left in 1868 on her way to exile for Paris, the year 1887 marked the beginning of the summer of the Royal Family in San Sebasti n, which turned out to be the definitive accolade for its consecration among the most important tourist cities in Europe. Until the construction of the Miramar Palace, in 1893, they settled in the Ayete Palace.

The reception given to Queen María Cristina and her children was indescribable. The people of San Sebastian, aware of the promotion that the royal election meant for the city, organized countless parties of all kinds to celebrate the event: hangings and tapestries on the facades, buildings illuminated for three days, Te Deum in Santa Maria with the assistance of all the authorities, reception at the Town Hall, Gardeners troupe in the Plaza de la Constitución, fireworks, zezensuzko, country tour with illumination of the surrounding mountains, ball games in Jai-Alai, regattas and cuca ace in the bay.

The growth of the city and its prosperity prompted the carrying out of numerous works of all kinds that improved the quality of life of the people of San Sebastian and adapted the city to new needs. The Gran Casino had to deliver an annual amount to a Board formed by the Mayor, the President of the Provincial Council and other members, called the interests of the city or Development Society, which distributed the money in three items: one was destined to the Antituberculosis Campaign, the second to the Charity Asylum and the third for beautification works in the city. With this money, among other works, the Paseo Nuevo, the cantilever of the beach and the widening of La Concha were carried out. The aesthetic aspect was a central concern of its councilors, in perfect harmony with the tourist dedication of the city. For this reason, the activities that could collide with it are located far from the center, which is preserved from any disfigurement. In the last years of the 19th century, industries of some importance were founded, such as El León, Suchard, Lizarriturry y Rezola and Cementos Rezola, but always in remote areas.

The prison was installed in Ondarreta in 1891 since that beach was a field of maneuvers and until 1923 it was not conditioned as a tourist place; Already after the Civil War it was transferred, in the 50s of the 20th century, to its current location in Martutene. After the fire of 1813, the cemetery was established in the San Martín neighborhood; As a result of the cholera of 1855, this one was insufficient and a new one was built on the top of San Bartolomé. In 1865 a commission was appointed to study a new location for the cemetery. Finally, in 1878, the one in Polloe was inaugurated, according to the project of the architect Jos Goicoa. The remains of San Martín and San Bartolom were transferred to the new location in a solemn procession. As a response to the elitist character that is trying to imprint on the city, the events that originated the suspension by the City Council on January 14, 1901 of the Sokamuturra can be defined.

This provoked a popular uproar, the intervention of the public force with the consequent injuries and young detainees taken to Ondarreta, among whom were the painter Ascensio Martiarena and Javier Pe ay Goi. On the other hand, the bullfighting spectacle was promoted: After the wooden plaza in the San Martín neighborhood, inaugurated in 1852 and demolished in 1867, another was built in Atocha, which was also demolished, being replaced by the Chofre plaza in 1903. Later Due to the vicissitudes caused by the fire of 1813 and later by the Carlist War, both the asylum seekers and the sick poor who were governed by a single Board and Treasury, that is to say, Mercy and Hospital that were united, settled in 1841 in the old convent of San Francisco Gros and Atocha. In 1887, the San Antonio Abad hospital was inaugurated on the Manteo grounds, where the sick passed, only La Misericordia remaining in the previous location. The same year the City Council bought the convent of Uba for orphaned and foundling children, under seven years of age, who until then had been in Mercy.

In 1910 a new building was inaugurated for it, the Asilo Benífico de la Reina Victoria, on the top of Zorroaga, moving in that year the asylum seekers who were in Gros. For the elderly, Don José Mat a Calvo created a Foundation that bears his name and which built an Asylum, inaugurated in 1889. The "Drop of Milk", a joint work of the two savings banks, was created in 1902 to the foundlings of the cradle house, although its services were extended to all children who needed it, providing them with formula milk and also a doctor's office. It was the first to be created in Spain and was present in 1905 at the First International Congress of Milk Drops in Paris. This service, now unnecessary, saved the lives of many babies whose mother could not breastfeed and whose families could not or did not want (as in the case of Dr. Madinabeitia's granddaughter) to hire the services. of a wet nurse Since 1863, a private secondary school had been operating in San Sebastián, which became a Municipal Institute after receiving subsidies from the City Council.

Meanwhile, the Royal Seminary of Bergara, which in 1840 had become the Provincial Secondary Education Institute, moved to San Sebastián on the occasion of the Second Carlist War and the City Council ceded to it the premises of the School of Commerce in the School Square. In October of the same year, a new building had been inaugurated on Calle Anda for the Municipal Institute and the Provincial from Bergara soon moved to it. In 1900 the new building was inaugurated Urdaneta and Larramendi streets according to the plans of Ramón de Cortázar and Luis de Elizalde. The School of Arts and Crafts had been installed in the same building on Calle Anda in 1879, and a little earlier, around 1874, the Municipal Public Library and a Museum. As the School of Arts and Crafts grew significantly, the City Council built a new building next to the Secondary Education Institute on Urdaneta street, where both the School and the Municipal Library and Museum were moved, which will later be located in the convent of San Telmo, when it lost, in 1926, its military character. Nearly 1,500 male and female students had enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts 1910 and 1915, but the proportion of male and female students was much higher than that of female students, the latter representing around 22% of the student body.

The transformation of San Sebastián and its functions in the 19th century is the most relevant aspect of its contemporary history and although the new tourist function will be the dominant one until the times of the Second Republic and the Civil War it will not be This is an exclusive function, as occurs in most of the tourist centers that, outside the summer season, live or survive in lethargy waiting for the resurrection each summer. San Sebastián, despite the great dependence on its tourist sector, had its own independent life that made it live, at a more subdued pace, yes, during the winter.

With regard to the dominant political tendencies among its inhabitants, in the 19th century and up to the Second Republic, San Sebastián can be defined as a progressive and liberal city, with tinges of moderate anti-clericalism that should in no way be confused with anti-religious sentiment. Freemasonry in San Sebastian. There were different Freemason groups in the capital of Gipuzkoa, including the "Cosmopolitan Fraternal" Lodge, founded in 1870; the Lodge called "Providence", established in 1890, as well as the "Heroism" chapter, organised in March 1893. This character was evident in the municipal, provincial and general elections, in which the city voted in the majority for liberal and republican options, with few exceptions and before the Carlist, fundamentalist or conservative options that were in the majority, especially the first two, in the province, with the exception of a few towns such as Irún and Eibar. In the elections to the Cortes, the deputy for the electoral district of San Sebastián (which included the towns of the region as far as Irún and Hondarribia) was generally a liberal or later even a republican; in the 1960s and first half of the 1970s it was Don Fermín Lasala y Collado, Duque de Mandas, a liberal, who was the most frequent representative in San Sebastián.

In the 1990s, Fermín Calbetón of the Liberal Coalition was a member of Parliament, as was Brunet in 1898 and the republican Zavala in 1999; personalities belonging to the Donostia oligarchy that governed the political and economic destinies of the city since the creation of the gathering at the Collado house in the years of the Triennium, from which the prestigious newspaper El Liberal Guipuzcoano emerged. Local politics enabled some of these oligarchs to make the leap to state politics: the Duke of Mandas, who was a minister of the Monarchy, as well as Joaquín M.ª Ferrer, who had been Espartero's minister, and Fermín Calbetón, Minister of Finance in the Canalejas government, are just a few examples. Others, more directly involved in economic life, such as the Brunet family, promoters of industries (Papelera "La Esperanza", Tejidos del Oria, Fundiciones Molinao), financiers (Banca Brunet), property developers and builders (Sdad. Brunet y Cía.), maintained their political presence in the municipal or provincial boundaries. Meanwhile, until the end of the century, the Carlists, thanks to the votes of the province, were the majority in the Provincial Council.

Their strength in the rural areas contrasted with their scant presence in the capital: not a single Carlist or fundamentalist councillor in the 1905 municipal elections; the Donostia City Council, with a few exceptions, remained in liberal or republican hands. Of the two republican parties, the one with the most real presence was the Autonomist Republican Party, which in 1903 joined the Republican Union. The Unionists, thanks to their alliance with the liberals, came to control the Provincial Council in the early years of the 20th century, until 1907: this was the Liberal-Republican Conjunction, which was fully dominant in San Sebastián, although it was only in 1910 that they managed to send their representative, Tomás Bermingham, to the Congress of Deputies. The other republican party, the Federal, led a languid life, with hardly any militants, although its members were notable personalities, including the president, Francisco Gascue. They only contested in San Sebastián and in their district, obtaining few representatives: one councillor in the 1905 municipal elections, Tomás Carasa.

The Foral Autonomous League. The loss of the Fueros developed the fuerista feeling in the country. This general feeling made all the parties include the recovery of the Fueros in their programs, at the same time that the cultural Basque movement grew. In San Sebasti n José de Manterola he published the magazine Euskal Erria (1880-1916) in which intellectuals from the four Basque provinces collaborated. The fuerista sentiment of the population of San Sebastián was evident in the events of August 27, 1893. When the Gernikako Arbola Municipal Band refused to play, the public, outraged, went in a demonstration to the Civil Government and the Hotel de Londres, located on Avenida de la Libertad, shouting "Long live the Fueros!, Death to Sagasta!", Head of Government who was staying at said hotel. There they sang the Gerkinako Arbola and the Marseillaise stoning the Civil Guard who dispersed the crowd with the result of three dead, more than twenty injured and numerous arrests. The following days there were demonstrations and calm did not return until important military forces were deployed to San Sebastián. This fuerist environment was reflected in the creation of the Liga Foral Autonomista, a coalition of various parties (integrists, Carlists until 1905, liberal monarchists in a personal capacity, federal republicans and some unionist republicans).

The immediate cause of the constitution of the League was the approval of the Alcohol Law that collided with the Economic Agreement of 1894, in force until 1906. The press, various popular societies and some councilors of the San Sebastian city council promoted a fuerista agitation campaign that would culminate with a demonstration that was to go on October 30, 1904 to the North Station to receive the commissioners who came from negotiating the issue in Madrid, inviting the commerce of the city to close the shops on the winged day. With the City Council at the helm, thousands of people came to receive the delegates. Shortly after, the Civil Governor Ramn María de Lil and the Mayor of San Sebasti n José de El Segui resigned in protest of the Alcohol Law, in addition to other Gipuzkoan mayors. The Liga Foral Autonomista lasted until the negotiation in Madrid of the Economic Agreement of 1906, triumphing in all the electoral contests in which its members competed. From the presentation to the Courts of the Religious Associations Bill, new political alliances were established that put an end to the existence of the Foral League. The coalition of fundamentalists and liberals was broken, the former joining the Catholic bloc formed by Carlists, nationalists and conservatives, while on the other side liberals, republicans and socialists came together.

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