Why go
A walk from Parte Vieja to the centre shows the turning point clearly: the old quarter follows a repaired historic pattern, while streets beyond the former walls form a planned grid. La Concha’s promenade and Miramar express the later seaside city.
The full story
The town rebuilt after the fire of 1813, largely keeping its earlier street pattern. Constitution Square took shape soon afterward. In 1863 the walls were demolished, allowing a new district with straighter, broader streets to spread beyond the old core. The railway had arrived, and the Spanish monarchy’s summer stays encouraged development around La Concha. The twentieth century brought a very different history. The 1930 Pact of San Sebastián helped unite republican opposition to the monarchy. During the Civil War, the city fell to Nationalist forces and residents faced repression and exile. Later decades brought political violence and urban change. In Gros, the old Kursaal building and Chofre bullring were demolished in 1973; at the western end of the bay, Eduardo Chillida and Luis Peña Ganchegui created the Comb of the Wind in the 1970s. These layers sit close together across a walkable centre.