The municipal elections of April 12,1931 produced perhaps the greatest show of republican unity and popular support ever seen in Gijón. On April 13, hours before the news arrived from Madrid, the city carried out its own peaceful revolution that culminated in the declaration of the Republic and the release of political prisoners that evening. The process began at 2 p.m., when a large crowd convinced the newly elected republican councilors to lead a march to city hall and demand the resignation of the monarchist city council. Later that afternoon, all of the coalition parties met and constituted a revolutionary committee to monitor the transition. By early that evening, with still no word from Madrid, the committee took the responsibility of officially declaring the Republic in Gijón. In the Plaza de la Constitutión in front of the city hall, an enormous crowd watched in silence as the republicans raised the Federalist flag (the only non-monarchist one available). Afterwards, “the enthusiasm overflowed and the shouts of ‘long live the Republic’ multiplied. People embraced each other emotionally, while many men threw their hats into the air as a sign of jubilation.”

After the inaugural act, the crowd moved on to the jail, led by the young Reformist lawyer, Dionisio Morán, who became the orator of the transition. With approval wired from Oviedo for the release of the mostly anarchist political prisoners, Morán and another Reformist lawyer, Mariano Merediz, presided over their liberation. After an emotional public reunion with family and friends, the twenty-three prisoners and their retinue began a triumphant procession to city hall, cheered on by jubilant crowds.