Six more victims of Franco's war crimes have been identified in the Balearic Islands as a result of the exhumations carried out in the Son Coletes cemetery in Manacor and the San Francisco Javier cemetery in Formentera, during the campaigns carried out between 2020 and 2023 under the previous progressive Balearic Government. These are Bartomeu Fornés Bordoy, Serafín Vives Servera, and Gabriel Picornell Femenias, found in Manacor. In Formentera, the identities of the remains correspond to Francisco Delgado Machío, Antonio Sánchez Capilla, and Manuel Gordillo Vega, both from Extremadura. With these, there are now sixty-seven victims of fascism identified in the Balearic Islands, although it is certain that there are many more. You can find information about who each of them were. in the news of the Ara Balears. It should be noted that the interventions were carried out by teams from the Aranzadi Atics company, and that the identifications were made possible through the analysis and comparison of genetic profiles carried out by the Biomics laboratory at the University of the Basque Country, the ancient and modern DNA laboratory at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and the Genomics Service at Pompeu Fabra University.
Honor and glory to the victims, although the recognition and reparation of being able to rest with their families comes to them eighty-eight years late due to the fascist ignominy, which was not enough to murder its opponents, but also needed to point fingers, defame, and this. One of those identified, Gabriel Picornell Femenies, stands out especially because he was the brother of Aurora Picornell, a young communist and trade union leader and one of the Reds of Molinar murdered on Twelfth Night in 1937, who over the years has become an iconic figure of historical memory and anti-fascism. Gabriel Picornell was a stonecutter and member of the PCE (Spanish Communist Party). Like many others, he was imprisoned in Can Mir prison, from where he was taken to be executed, probably also in early 1937. The cruelty towards Aurora Picornell did not stop there and also extended to her father, who also extended to his father. Octubrina, who was given to another family and given another name. Readers will note that the current president of the Balearic Parliament, Gabriel Le Senne, is facing trial for a hate crime, after tearing up a photo of Aurora Picornell and Les Roges del Molinar last year in a fit of rage during a parliamentary session.
Regarding the three Extremadura residents identified on Formentera, the official statement issued this Monday by the current Balearic Government (PP with the support of Vox) piously stated that they had died "of illness." Yes: from illnesses contracted as a result of imprisonment in unsanitary, inhumane conditions. They can deny it all they want, but Spain remains the country in the world with the second most mass graves yet to be dug, after Cambodia, and the screams can still be heard from within the graves.
