 Many children were evacuated to temporary safety in Bilbao, with the city's population falling by an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants.In the aftermath of war, the city was stricken by poverty, famine and repression, coupled with a thriving smuggling trade.Many republican detainees were held at the beach-side Ondarreta Prison in grim and humid conditions, until the building was demolished in 1948.