The Madrid City Council has tried to delay as much as possible the beginning of an archaeological study that will allow the earth to be opened on a plot of land in the Montecarmelo neighborhood and determine, once and for all, whether or not there is a mass grave in which they were 451 combatants from the international brigades buried by Francoist authorities. This has been reported by the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, the Association of Friends of International Brigade Members and the neighborhood associations that have been warning since November that, under plot 26.2b, the largest grave from the Civil War in Madrid can be found.
The City Council has not revealed the content of the report prepared by a company hired by the Cleaning Area for weeks, which, as EL PAÍS reported, yields results “highly compatible” with the existence of human remains. Sources familiar with the study’s conclusions have confirmed to this newspaper that the report recommends carrying out an archaeological study – which involves digging the ground – to confirm whether or not there is a mass grave.
The Almeida Government has also delayed as much as possible the request from the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory to begin excavations on land in Montecarmelo where the City Council intended to install a garbage canton, despite neighborhood opposition. While Mayor Almeida remains silent, the Vice Mayor, Inmaculada Sanz; and the Urban Planning delegate, Borja Carabante; They have accused the Government of Pedro Sánchez of having “abandoned” the search for the brigade members.
Nothing further from reality. The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez, confirmed this Thursday, after the Territorial Memory Council, that they have requested permission again after the first file was filed in mid-May, Natalia Junquera reports. “We have once again asked to be authorized to carry out archaeological tastings [ya habían contratado por 17.000 euros a una empresa especializada] to know for sure whether or not there are cadaveric remains in the surroundings of the Fuencarral cemetery. The first request was rejected,” said the secretary.
Martínez has warned that, if it is found that there is a grave on the plot, “they will not be able to touch that area.” “Destroying a grave is illegal. And the person who has powers over this issue is the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory,” he stated. Regarding what he described as “delay” maneuvers by the City Council to deny the specialists hired by the Government access to the area, the senior central government official has insisted: “Sooner or later, we are going to do it. The moment a bone emerges and it is certified that there are corpses there, they must be exhumed.”
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Where is now the key to the delay in the process that has the search for the mass grave in suspense? Both Sanz and Carabante try to adhere to the letter and not the spirit of the rule. The letter would require permission from all the descendants of the buried brigade members for their exhumation 80 years later. Since it is impossible to obtain authorization from 451 relatives of 20 nationalities eight decades later, both Sanz and Carabante deduce that it is the Government that does not comply with its rules and renounces the exhumation.
The timeline of a battle that is no longer local
On January 19, the City Council knew it was in trouble. Democratic Memory had contacted the municipal Heritage Directorate to express its “will” to carry out archaeological explorations on the land where the canton is to be built. That day, the Culture Area sends an email to the Urban Planning Area in charge of the work and warns them that “it seems advisable to postpone the start of the municipal works” and allow Democratic Memory to carry out the study.
On January 22, Democratic Memory launches a request for offers for a minor contract aimed at conducting prospective surveys on the Montecarmelo plot. Three days later, he received the offer from the Arqueoantro Scientific Association, and on February 23, he awarded the contract for almost 17,000 euros. Meanwhile, ask the local and regional authorities what permits you must request to enter to carry out the study.
Then, on February 28, Arqueoantro, requested authorization to carry out the Research and location project through archaeological surveys of the international brigade members of the Fuencarral cemetery, Madrid, lasting three weeks. On March 15, the City Council asked the company, within 10 days, to present a plan showing where it would carry out the excavations and to attach the authorization in accordance with the rules indicated Article 18 of the Democratic Memory Law. Said article, in section 4, establishes that before the authorization resolution, the ministry must agree on a period of public information so that the direct descendants of the victims who express this can oppose the transfer of remains.
On April 2, Arqueoantro sent the plan and, again, attached the resolution of the contract with Memoria Democrástica. At the same time, Democratic Memory managed to contact the City Council and explained that “article 18 of the Democratic Memory Law must not be interpreted literally,” as the council does in this case, according to a detailed chronology that it has sent. the ministry to this newspaper. “The deputy director general of Municipal Land Heritage continues in her refusal and also requests that the authorization be submitted to public information for one month, which would make it definitively impossible to comply with the 10-day period given to the contractor to correct it,” explains the ministry. .
However, the City Council maintained that the required documentation was still missing and, on April 11, it again gave them a period of 10 days to present it. On May 14, the City Council issued a resolution in which it declared “the withdrawal of the request to occupy the plot,” concludes the City Council file in which it annulled the request. On May 30, Arqueoantro requested authorization again and alleged that “there is no point in presenting the authorization of article 18 of Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory, since it is the General Administration of the State itself, through an entity contractor, the one that promotes the intervention.”
Eduardo Ranz, a lawyer who is an expert in historical memory, maintains that “exhuming is the right that prevails.” [frente a la oposición a que se haga]”. Then, he makes a reservation: for there to be exhumation, clearly, the bones must be searched. And, if they are found, the relationship must be demonstrated that allows them to be accredited as third parties who have an interest in the process.
“First there has to be an archaeological report that establishes that there are human remains and document them. Transfer to families [de decidir qué hacer] It is not something that can be done effectively today because they have not even opened it,” Ranz alleges. The Association of Friends of the International Brigades (AABI) describes the City Council’s argument as a “delaying obstacle.” “It is not feasible to recover the information of the brigade members’ families. On the one hand, there are many who are listed as unknown; On the other hand, they are foreigners who died between 1936 and 1937 and keeping track of the families is difficult,” details Andrés Chamorro, from the AABI. The association has a list of the burial service of the international brigades, digitized and published by the Archive of the Communist International, which accounts one by one for the 451 brigade members buried in Fuencarral. The name, nationality and date of death are known for the vast majority. So far, the AABI has only been able to find four families who agree with the search and opening of the grave and are willing to provide DNA to make the identification.
But the process does not end there. If the City Council gave authorization to occupy the land, then the company would have to request another permit from the General Directorate of Heritage of the Community of Madrid. Only when all this is ready, can the earth be dug and resolve, once and for all, whether or not what Gama Geofisica SL has detected is the mass grave of the international brigade members.
The PSOE will ask that, if the grave is found, the plot be declared a ‘Place of Democratic Memory’
The Madrid PSOE will ask the Madrid City Council that, if it is confirmed that in Montecarmelo there is a mass grave from the civil war with the remains of the international brigade members, the plot can be declared a “place of democratic memory.” This is one of the points that the socialists will take to the next plenary session on May 25 to give greater protection to the land. A place of democratic memory, according to Law 20/2022, is a space “with singular relevance due to its historical significance” that must be protected, identified and have adequate signage.
The socialists will also demand in the same proposal that the report of the company that carried out the georadar study for the City Council be made public and that the current location for the cleaning canton project be renounced.
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