From glorious past to hopeful future

We now find ourselves in the geographic heart of Eibar's extreme land development that took place after the war. The main destruction affected the area surrounding St Andrew's parish church, the start of Arragüeta, the Concepcionistas de Isasi convent and the whole Unzaga neighbourhood. The General Board of Devastated Regions estimated damage as destruction of 140 private buildings, affecting a total of 840 homes. In September 1940, it was estimated that the volume of rubble in the town came to 97,000 cubic metres.

Eibar 1937

Rebuilding Eibar where Errebal meets Julián Etxeberria (then called María Ángela and Avda. del Generalísimo). © Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. General Archive of the Administration. Council for Devastated Regions Fund, [signature F-04190-014-001 Marqués de Santa María del Villar]. 

The redevelopment plan was approved in 1940, working from the initial site and much commented on in the press because reconstruction was so slow and the relief so difficult, all combined with the arrival of new inhabitants attracted by the upturn in industry. The project outlined a town for 24,000 inhabitants, divided into a centre, an enlargement area, an industrial area and a school and recreation area, although it was a long way from the land development model prototype, fundamentally due to lack of space.

Eibar, an asphalt island amongst grass and water, was designed around a town centre between Isasi and Urkizu and another centre for buildings and public institutions. This central space would hold middle and upper class residences whilst in the decades to come, homes would be built on the mountainside. Due to lack of space on the banks of the River Ego, new neighbourhoods would grow on nearby slopes. This led to areas such as Amaña, Urki, Ubitxa, Txonta, Legarre, Jardiñeta, etc. 

Through a decree in March 1940, Franco pinpointed towns from all over the country, particularly affected by the war, for rebuilding and Eibar was one of them. Prisoners were housed in barracks put up next to the Azitain tip, and they worked on many of the rebuilding sites in Eibar at that time (houses in the Bidebarrieta blocks, Errebal market, covering the Ego throughout the town to gain space for construction, development of the area around the parish church, etc.). In 1943, 125 prisoners were registered in this forced labour battalion.  

End of calle Toribio Etxeberria (formerly Dos de Mayo). Reconstruction of the area surrounding St Andrew's parish church. © Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. General Archive of the Administration. Dirección General de Regiones Devastadas Fund, [signature F-04191-03-003 Council for Devastated Regions]. 

In 1945, Eibar recovered its pre-war industrial production figures, above all due to the State's interest in setting up production facilities before the conflict. It was not until 1954 that income per capita in Spain rose above 1935 figures, almost a decade after Eibar achieved this and two decades behind the rest of the developed world. Rationing stopped in 1952 and price deregulation began. Inflation was stabilised and salaries rose. Whilst the town had 11,800 inhabitants in 1940, by 1960 there were 31,700, reaching a peak in 1978 with 39,561. For the last few years, Eibar's population has stood at around 27,500, living in a town based on services although maintaining its industrial roots.  

Main image:
Reconstruction of Eibar. Destroyed area around calle Dos de Mayo (current calle Toribio Etxeberria). © Eibar Municipal Archive. Fund: Indalecio Ojanguren.