As the Spanish Civil War began in the late 1930s, Marbella and Casare suffered more anticlerical violence than the rest of western Málaga province. The day after the failed uprising which led to the civil war, several religious buildings in Marbella were set on fire. Only the walls of the Church of St. Mary of the Incarnation and the Church of San Pedro Alcantara were left standing. With the aid of Fascist Italian troops, Nationalist forces seized Marbella during the first months of the war. It became a haven for prominent Nazis, including Léon Degrelle and Wolfgang Jugler, and Falangist personalities like José Antonio Girón de Velasco and José Banús.