Editing Bilbao (section)

==== Civil war and Francoist dictatorship ====
[[File:Bilboko portuaren bonbardaketa.jpg|thumb|left|Bombing of Bilbao during the Civil War, 5 June 1937]]
The [[Spanish Civil War]] in Bilbao started with a number of small uprisings suppressed by the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] forces. On 31 August 1936, the city suffered its first bombing, with a series of air bombs dropped by [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] airplanes. In September, the Nationalists distributed pamphlets threatening further bombing if the city did not give up, which finally took place on 25 September when German planes, in coordination with Francoist forces, dropped at least a hundred bombs on the city.<ref>Quiroga 2001: 84</ref> In May 1937, the Nationalist army besieged the town. The battle lasted until 19 June of that year, when Lieutenant Colonel Putz was ordered to destroy all bridges over the estuary, and the troops of the 5th Brigade took the borough from the mountains Malmasin, Pagasarri, and Arnotegi.<ref>Sánchez-Beaskoetxea 2006: 48</ref>

With the war over, Bilbao returned to its industrial development, accompanied by steady population growth. In the 1940s, the city was rebuilt, starting with the bridges and by 1948, the first commercial flight took off from the local [[Bilbao Airport|airport]].<ref>Tussel 2004: 187</ref> Over the next decade, there was a revival of the iron industry, which became a strategic industrial sector in Spain, as a consequence of the economic model promoted by [[Francoism]]. The city received migrants from other Spanish regions looking to work in the iron industry. The demand for housing outstripped supply, and workers built slums on the hillsides.<ref name="franquism">Quiroga 2001: 96</ref> It was in this context that the first social movements arose and the strike of the ''Euskalduna'' shipyard in 1947 was the first one to take place during the Francoist dictatorship. In this environment of social repression, on 31 July 1959 the separatist organisation [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] was created from Basque nationalist movements.<ref name="franquism"/> During the 1960s the city was the scenario of several urban projects, with the creation of new neighbourhoods like Otxarkoaga and the motorway to the French border. In June 1968 the University of Bilbao, the first public university, was established. It would later be integrated into the [[University of the Basque Country]].