Franco firing squad victims found in Gandia cemetery
Child witness, now 91, pinpointed site his father and 61 others were executed by dictators’ troops – and nine of them have now been exhumed
REMAINS of nine victims of General Franco’s fascist dictatorship have been found in an unmarked common grave in Gandia – and there could be more at the same site, according to the authorities.
It is thought that as many as 62 people were executed by firing squad in Gandia cemetery in 1940, the year immediately following the Civil War, although the previous three attempts at finding their bodies had failed.
Excavations were due to start in 2019 after specialist firm Arqueo Antro picked up geo-radar signals on the right-hand side of the local graveyard, but the pandemic forced the team to postpone the investigation.
Two years on, the site was dug up, but nothing found.
The most recent work began in conjunction with the local association of relatives of Franco's victims, who were guided to the area concerned by a first-hand witness.
José Albero, now 91, was aged just seven when, hiding from the soldiers’ view, he saw his father and dozens of other adults shot at close range on the edge of their own common grave.
They had been lined up with their backs to their killers, and in handcuffs.
Before starting, the team had taken DNA samples of living relatives of the 62 victims.
After years of having their hopes repeatedly dashed, descendants of the deceased were described as excited, nervous and emotional after hearing the remains of five people had been discovered in an unmarked pit at the end of March.
Since then, another four have been found.
Gandia council says excavations will continue until they are certain there is no hope of finding any more.
With up to 53 more bodies possibly in situ, the team will be on site for many more months.
All remains will be examined and formally identified, then returned to their nearest living relatives to enable them to be given a proper funeral.
Gandía town hall has pledged to hold a memorial service for all the victims once they have been exhumed.
Paterna
The regional government has announced that a memorial will be constructed at the largest mass grave site in the Valencia region, which is in Paterna.
Work on the mausoleum and interpretation centre at the town’s cemetery is due to start this month and take six months to complete, with a budget of €733,000.
It will commemorate 2,238 people who were executed in the area by Franco’s troops.
Regional councillor for democratic quality, Rosa Pérez Garijo said: “The main reason for the memorial is so that the remains that cannot be identified have a dignified place to rest after being in a common grave for 80 years.”
The monument will contain an ossuary with room for 1,445 skeletons, which will be a resting place for victims who have been identified as well as the nameless dead.
In the interpretation centre ‘people will be able to learn about our country’s past’.
“Countries which have no knowledge of their own past are condemned to repeat it and we have to state that this should never happen again,” she said.