An interactive map shows 6,000 exhumed mass graves in Spain

BarcelonaNo matter where you are in Spain, you'll find a mass grave within 50 kilometers. That's one of the conclusions you can draw. on the interactive audiovisual map The country of 6,000 mass graves which RTVE has produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory. The map, based on documentation from exhumations carried out over the last 25 years, allows users to geolocate and obtain information about the burial sites of more than 17,000 victims. The website, launched just days before the 50th anniversary of Franco's death, features stories of the victims and also includes various materials, such as photographs provided by families or memory organizations, and RTVE videos.

During the excavations, smaller buttons of mother-of-pearl, wood, and copper were found; Smaller shoe soles made of harder materials, belonging to leather boots and ankle boots; hair accessories such as clips and headbands; earrings, bracelets, and necklaces; and the rattle found in Carcavilla Park (Palencia), which belonged to Catalina Muñoz, a 34-year-old woman. The rattle likely belonged to the 9-month-old son she was carrying when she was arrested.

The data on the mass graves is provided by the State Secretariat for Democratic Memory; in addition, both Catalonia and the Valencian Community have their own maps. These include graves where victims of political repression were buried, from both the rebel side and the Republican rearguard, soldiers, and also from the final years of the dictatorship, such as the grave in the Reus cemetery, where in 1973... Cipriano MartosThis worker and anti-Franco fighter was 31 years old when he was killed and his body buried at night without witnesses. His remains were exhumed in 2023. "Today is a happy day. The mass graves of the victors were recognized by everyone, but those of the vanquished were not unearthed until the return of democracy, and it has not been easy to do so," stated the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez. According to the website, the Civil War left nearly 600,000 victims, according to historians. Beyond those killed in combat or due to bombings, political violence and repression caused almost 200,000 deaths in Spain between 1936 and 1950: 140,159 people were victims of reprisals by the rebels—executed during the period of intense terror or after summary trials. "These are the most recent figures, conservative estimates prepared by historian Francisco Espinosa based on local studies and updated in 2020, although the data may vary depending on the source," the website explains.

For a long time, it was the families or memory organizations that undertook a Herculean task to recover the remains of their dead. In 1977 Esperanza Pérez She returned from exile in Belgium determined to find her father, grandparents, and uncles. They had all been murdered and buried in mass graves. For over a year, with the help of her husband, a taxi driver who took her from place to place, she traveled through different towns in the province of Palencia until she found eight of her relatives. In the end, she exhumed 150 victims of the Franco regime. In 2010, Aranzadi and the Association for the Recovery of Historical MemoryThe project, which is primarily funded by private donations, began exhuming mass graves. In Catalonia, the mass grave plan was launched in 2017, and exhumations and identifications began. Previously, the Catalan government's policy had prioritized dignifying the graves and tombs, but not recovering the remains.