• Seville

 The final Republican-held municipalities in Sevilla province were Algámitas and Villanueva de San Juan. Redondo’s column reached them on 11 September and occupied both towns. The captures brought the entire province of Sevilla under Nationalist control. Contemporary and later accounts describe the two communities as having experienced substantial civilian flight, with many residents escaping towards Málaga before or during the occupation. Villanueva de San Juan alone had more than 2,800 inhabitants, and later research has documented a very large number of victims of Nationalist repression there, including people killed after the occupation and others who were later caught after returning from flight.

The occupation of Algámitas and Villanueva de San Juan on 11 September  marked the end of organised Republican territorial control inside Sevilla province. From this point, Sevilla was entirely a Nationalist rear area. The frontier with Republican territory had moved into neighbouring Málaga, while the Nationalist authorities could turn their attention to securing the newly conquered communities and exploiting the province as a base for the continuing war. The consolidation was accompanied by an increasingly systematic programme of repression. In Sevilla city, ten prisoners had been executed on 4 September, followed by another major execution group of 21 prisoners on 12 September. The killings were part of the much larger system centred on the city’s prisons, police detention facilities, and the San Fernando cemetery. By the middle of September, prisoners were being held in a network that included La Ranilla, police premises, improvised detention centres, and other facilities, while groups of detainees continued to be removed for execution.

The San Fernando cemetery became one of the principal burial grounds for those killed by the Nationalist authorities. A major cemetery grave began receiving victims during approximately 10–15 September and continued to be used on a massive scale. Later documentation from Sevilla records thousands of Republican victims buried in the cemetery’s mass graves.

As Nationalist control became permanent, political opponents were removed from public employment and their property was targeted. During September, the Diputación de Sevilla expanded the purge of provincial employees considered politically unreliable. Houses, land, businesses, union premises, and other property belonging to Republican organisations or people classified as supporters of the Republic were increasingly subject to confiscation. These measures transformed the nature of Nationalist control. The military conquest of the province was followed by the destruction of the political and social structures that had supported the Republic. Former councillors, trade unionists, political activists, government employees, and ordinary people identified with the left could lose their employment, property, liberty, or lives.

At the same time, Sevilla city was becoming the principal Nationalist centre in southern Spain. Queipo de Llano’s headquarters directed military operations across much of Andalucía and into Extremadura. The city became a centre for command, recruitment, supply, hospitals, aviation, communications, administration, and the movement of troops towards the various fronts. Its position on the Guadalquivir and its transport connections made it particularly valuable as a Nationalist rear-area base.

The city’s cemeteries consequently reflected both sides of its new role. On 16 September, the first burial took place in the newly established military pantheon, where Nationalist personnel killed in the war were commemorated and buried. At the same time, Republican prisoners were continuing to be taken to the San Fernando cemetery and buried in mass graves. The two burial systems reflected the very different status assigned by the new authorities to those who had fought for the Nationalist cause and those who had been defeated.

 Teruel, Aragon

 Between 1 and 11 September 1936, Nationalist forces carried out a series of killings in the Gea de Albarracín, Cella and Pozos de Caudé area of Teruel province. The victims were people suspected of supporting the Republic or of having taken part in the political and social organisations that had opposed the military uprising.

The repression occurred as Nationalist forces consolidated their control over the settlements west and south of Teruel. People were detained locally and removed from their homes or places of detention before being taken to killing sites in the surrounding countryside. Pozos de Caudé, on the road between Teruel and Cella, became one of the principal locations associated with the disposal of victims from the wider area.

The identified victims from Gea de Albarracín and Cella form part of the wider group of people killed around Pozos de Caudé during this period. Some were shot locally, while others were transported to the execution area and subsequently buried in mass graves. The killings were carried out by Nationalist forces and right-wing armed groups operating in the area, with the repression directed against local Republican sympathisers, political opponents, and others considered hostile to the Nationalist cause.

The Pozos de Caudé site became one of the most important mass-burial locations connected with the Nationalist repression in the Teruel area. Victims from several surrounding municipalities were deposited there, making the site evidence of a campaign that extended beyond individual villages and involved the systematic removal and killing of people from communities across the region. The mass gave is commemerated people for the 1,005 people who were dumped outside the cemetery, though the total figure remains unknown.

The place known as Pozos de Caude (Wells of Caude) was an old inn situated next to the main road to Zaragoza with no nearby population centres. In the well where the bodies of the were thrown, between layers of quicklime and water, to a depth of 84 metres. At the time of the executions, there was an inn nearby, known as Paco’s Inn. By 1936, this inn was already in semi-ruin, with remnants of walls, corral fences, and earthen walls remaining. Witnesses stated that the well filled with corpses and that nearby trenches were dug to continue burying bodies. The owners of the property always respected that area and left it untouched. The monument was built privately in May 1978, and with volunteer work, and read, ‘To our comrades who fell here defending freedom and democracy 1936-1939.’ Another was later erected that read, ‘To our comrades shot here for defending freedom and democracy 1936-1939. We will only be dead if you forget us. A nearby wall with the anarchist flag CNI AIT, ‘We carry a new world in our hearts, B. Durruti’

• Gipuzkoa, Basque Country

After taking Irún, the Nationalists had several thousand men operating in more columns against San Sebastián. Colonel Alfonso Beorlegui’s column, containing regular troops, Requetés, Falangists, Guardia Civil and Assault Guards, advanced west from the Bidasoa, while other Nationalist troops approached from the south through the Oria valley. The Republican and Basque defenders were also spread across several sectors, attempting to keep open the western road towards Bizkaia rather than concentrating everyone immediately around San Sebastián.

On 6 September, Beorlegui’s troops had occupied Hondarribia and Fort Guadalupe, completing Nationalist control of the immediate French frontier. They took Gaintxurizketa on 7 September and moved onto the Jaizkibel and Landarbaso heights on the 8th, pushing the Republican line back towards Errenteria and the fortified approaches to San Sebastián. The Republican defence now relied upon positions including San Marcos, Txoritokieta and Santiagomendi, while the route west through Orio remained essential if the defenders were eventually forced to withdraw.

The San Sebastián Junta de Defensa had begun organising the evacuation of Errenteria, Lezo, Pasajes and San Sebastián on 6 September, as Nationalist troops advanced westwards from the French frontier. Civilians were directed towards western Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, while the authorities also began removing fuel, vehicles, ships and other material that could still be transported from the threatened area. The operation quickly involved thousands of civilians. People left by train, lorry, bus, taxi and private car, while ships carried others from the coast and some families made for France. Children were among those evacuated – on 8 September, the Aloña Mendi carried more than 200 children to France. Records indicate that approximately 16,000 people were evacuated before San Sebastián was occupied, with another 2,272 people recorded crossing into France on foot. These figures do not account for everyone who left the city and surrounding towns, particularly those who travelled independently towards Bizkaia.

The authorities also had to remove enormous fuel stocks concentrated around the port. Depots at Lezo and Pasajes held approximately one million litres of petrol and nine million litres of diesel. Gudaris guarded the installations while arrangements were made to move as much fuel as possible westwards. Ships and other matériel in the harbour were also evacuated where they could still be used by the Republican authorities.

Political prisoners held in San Sebastián presented another problem. On 9 September, prisoners were transferred by ship to Bilbao before the Nationalists reached the city. The final decision to abandon San Sebastián was made on 11 September, after Nationalist troops captured San Marcos and Txoritokieta, removing two important positions protecting the city. Representatives of Azpeitia and Eibar opposed the decision and wanted the defence to continue. Commander Kandido Saseta arrived with approximately 400 men to reinforce the remaining defenders, but the Junta maintained its decision to evacuate.

During 11–13 September, the movement became a mass departure from the provincial capital. Estimates suggest that around 60 per cent of San Sebastián’s population left the city. With a population of roughly 80,000 people, that would mean approximately 45,000–50,000 residents, though both the percentage and resulting number are estimates. Most travelled west through Orio towards the remaining Republican-held areas of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, while others departed by sea or went into France.

Maintaining order during the withdrawal was an organised part of the evacuation. Around 100 public-order personnel remained in San Sebastián while civilians, government personnel and militia were leaving. Basque nationalist gudaris guarded property and intervened when attempts were made to set fire to buildings in Gros, while public-order personnel worked to prevent looting. This continued even as the military positions outside the city were being abandoned. The last Republican and Basque units withdrew towards Orio during 12–13 September, accompanied by government officials and political organisations leaving the city. By the time Nationalist troops entered San Sebastián on 13 September, tens of thousands of residents had already left their homes and were moving west through Republican-held territory or had crossed into France.

Nationalist pressure increased over the following days from both east and south. Beorlegui’s men advanced through the former Oiartzun fortified zone, while another Nationalist column fought towards San Sebastián through Hernani and the Santa Bárbara heights. The Nationalists were still short of the numbers needed to surround the entire Republican force, leaving the road towards Orio and Bizkaia open.

By 11 September, Nationalist troops had taken San Marcos and Txoritokieta, removing two of the principal defensive positions east of the city. The same day, Commander Kandido Saseta arrived with approximately 400 men to reinforce the defence. His force was significant but too small to reverse a situation in which Nationalist columns were already reaching the city’s outer approaches and the Junta de Defensa had decided to withdraw. Republican and Basque forces pulled back during 12–13 September, principally towards Orio and the remaining Republican-held western part of Gipuzkoa. Around 100 public-order guards and gudaris remained in San Sebastián during the final evacuation to maintain order and prevent buildings being burned.

On 13 September, Nationalist troops occupied Errenteria and Pasajes before entering San Sebastián. An advance company of the Tercio de Lácar under Captain Ureta moved into the city ahead of the main body, while about forty Requetés associated with Artajona were among the first Nationalist troops seen around the Kursaal bridge. They were only the leading elements of the much larger Nationalist force converging on the city.

San Sebastián was occupied with little organised resistance because the Republican and Basque defenders had already withdrawn. The Nationalists had covered the approximately 20km from Irún to San Sebastián in eight days, while the Republican front moved west towards the Deba valley and the approaches to Bizkaia.

•  Avila, Old Castile

After the capture of Arenas de San Pedro, Nationalist troops continued eastwards through the Tiétar valley, where Republican forces still controlled a succession of towns, mountain passes, and roads. The terrain made the advance difficult: the valley is enclosed by the Sierra de Gredos, with settlements connected by roads below steep mountain slopes and passes that could be defended by relatively small forces. During the second half of September, fighting concentrated around Pedro Bernardo, Gavilanes, and Puerto de Mijares.

On 11 September, Commander Lisardo Doval was ordered from Cáceres to reinforce Colonel José Monasterio’s Nationalist column. Doval brought approximately 430 men, including Moroccan Mehal-la or Mehaznía personnel and other troops with experience in Spain’s African forces. His group reached Arenas de San Pedro around 13 September, providing Monasterio with additional infantry for operations through terrain poorly suited to cavalry.

During the early hours of 14 September, Doval’s men travelled to Santa Cruz del Valle, where they were joined by a Marine Infantry machine-gun section. Moving the weapons demonstrated one of the practical problems of fighting in the Gredos mountains. Each machine gun and its tripod weighed approximately fifty kilograms, making it impossible for the crews simply to carry their equipment across the steep approaches. The Nationalists requisitioned mules and panniers from local people to transport the guns into the mountains.

Doval’s group attacked Republican positions around La Abantera and the approaches to Puerto de Pedro Bernardo and entered Pedro Bernardo on 14 September. Republican troops subsequently counterattacked but failed to recover the town. Some later Nationalist accounts dated its capture to 16 September, but the operational diary of the machine-gun detachment places the attack and entry on the 14th.

While Doval fought across the heights, Monasterio’s cavalry advanced separately towards Lanzahíta along the valley. The two movements allowed the Nationalists to press eastwards both through the mountains and along the lower ground. On 19 September, Doval descended into the Tiétar valley and rejoined Monasterio. Their advance now encountered more substantial Republican resistance around the Gavilanes–La Pinosa and Puerto de Mijares approaches. The Republican positions were held by the Columna del Rosal, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Francisco del Rosal, whose men had prepared entrenched positions supported by artillery. The Nationalists also received further reinforcements on 19 September when two companies of naval infantry, commanded by naval lieutenant Luis Díez del Corral, joined Doval’s group. These troops were added to the mixture of cavalry, infantry, African-service personnel, and machine-gun crews already operating with the column.

• Zamora, Old Castile

Zamora remained securely in Nationalist hands throughout the Civil War, but this did not make the province peaceful. Later research has identified at least 1,313 people killed by Nationalist repression in the province, while a subsequent reconstruction increased the known total to approximately 1,507 victims. The latter includes 443 associated with the judicial district of Zamora, 273 with Toro, 205 with Villalpando, 177 with Benavente, 117 with Puebla de Sanabria, 96 with Fuentesaúco, 83 with Alcañices, and 36 with Bermillo de Sayago, together with victims from elsewhere or whose origins could not be established.

The repression was overwhelmingly directed against people associated with the Republic, Socialist and Republican parties, trade unions, Casas del Pueblo, local government, and organised agricultural labour. The Nationalists had seized the province rapidly in July, and there was little sustained military fighting within Zamora. Those killed during the following months were  predominantly people already living under Nationalist authority rather than casualties of a contested front.

Zamora’s provincial prison and detention centres elsewhere in the province rapidly filled with Republican and left-wing prisoners. Toro became particularly important when prisoners were transferred there from the overcrowded capital. Research into the Toro repression records 126 executions there, including 76 during September alone. During a saca, prisoners could officially be removed under the pretext of transfer or release and instead be taken to an execution site. In Zamora, victims were transported by truck to places including the walls of San Atilano cemetery, Marialba, and Regato de las Pulgas, where they were shot. The repression also extended throughout the countryside, where Falange, Requeté, Guardia Civil, and other groups supporting the Nationalist uprising carried out arrests and killings.

The largest prison killing of the month occurred on 18 September, when 28 prisoners were killed in what became known as the ‘triple saca’. That massacre, including the death of prominent Izquierda Republicana politician Higinio Merino de la Monja, is substantial enough to be treated separately. The same day also saw military proceedings against other prisoners from Morales de Toro, showing that formal military justice and extrajudicial killing were operating simultaneously.

On 20 September, Domingo Galán Jambrina, a miner and trade-union member, was killed. The following night another saca removed Eusebio Fernández Lobato and his son Eusebio Fernández Lorenzo from Zamora’s provincial prison. Both were medical practitioners; the elder Fernández Lobato was also associated with Izquierda Republicana. They were supposedly being transferred to Bermillo de Sayago, but were instead killed at Zamora cemetery during the night of 20–21 September. Another victim recorded on 21 September was Francisco Iglesias López, an employee associated with Zamora. He was a different person from José Iglesias López, the postal workers’ union president killed ten days earlier.

Military courts provided the other route through the repression. Prisoners could be prosecuted for activities that before the uprising had been legal, membership of Republican political parties and trade unions, service in Republican municipal government, participation in strikes, or opposition to the July coup. Death sentences imposed by military courts existed alongside the sacas rather than replacing them during these first months.

Economic punishment also extended the consequences beyond imprisonment and death. The Nationalist authorities established procedures for the seizure of property belonging to people regarded as politically responsible for opposition to the uprising. Proceedings could continue against people who had already been killed, affecting houses, furniture, savings, businesses, and other family property. The later confiscation cases involving José Iglesias López, Higinio Merino, Eusebio Fernández Lobato, and other September victims show that killing a political opponent did not end action against his household.

The scale was particularly severe during the first months of Nationalist rule. At San Atilano cemetery in Zamora city, 875 people were recorded as ‘found dead’ or executed by sentence between 31 July 1936 and 25 January 1937. Across the province, later research has pushed the known repression total beyond 1,300 and towards 1,500 victims, making the prison removals and individual killings recorded during September part of a much larger campaign that affected virtually every district of Zamora.