Risk of overturning of the monument with the remains of the Pico Reja grave in Seville, the largest ossuary of reprisals in Spain

The ossuary-monument in which the remains of the 1,786 Francoist victims located in the Pico Reja grave, in the San Fernando cemetery in Seville, rest, is at risk of overturning just a year and a half after its inauguration. The reason is the subsidence of the ground on which it stands, which is none other than where this common burial site was, which became the most important in Western Europe since that of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Balkan War.

The report of the municipal architect who carried out the inspection indicates that part of the complex (the largest ossuary in Spain with remains of reprisals) presents an inclination that has been accentuated over the months, which “can cause risks of overturning.” ”. In fact, it urges that the construction company that carried out the works be notified “with urgency” so that it “acts with preventive measures such as shoring, shoring and consolidation of elements” in order to “ensure the resistance and stability” of the structure.

The initial alarm was raised by the cemetery workers themselves in June 2023, three months after the opening ceremony. Then it was detected that subsidence had occurred in part of the land where the mass grave excavations were carried out.

Increasing slope

After filling the gap with albero and compacting it, it was found that the monument presented “a certain degree of inclination” in the stacked prefabricated concrete modules in which the exhumed bone remains were deposited. In the work carried out, more than a million and a half bones were extracted, since along with the bodies of 1,718 victims of reprisals by the Franco regime, 6,882 more were located from normal funerary activity. In total, 8,600 people buried.

The municipal architect points out that the subsidence of the land is “attributable to the lack of initial compaction or the foundation that we assume has been placed.” This has caused the inclination of the complex to “increase” over the months, until reaching a moment in which there is a risk of part of the monument tipping over.

“No one was aware of this work”

The poor condition of this ossuary-homage was known during the last municipal plenary session, when the mayor, José Luis Sanz (PP), used it to counteract the accusations of IU councilor Ismael Sánchez of having abandoned historical memory policies. “No one was aware of this work, that was the respect that the PSOE had for the relatives of the victims,” argued the councilor in relation to the fact that the monument was inaugurated in March 2023, when the socialist Antonio Muñoz, today leader, was mayor. of the opposition.

The technical analysis, Sanz stressed, “urges urgent action to shore up and provide stability.” “The report says that it is going to fall,” he added, in addition to highlighting that – although he considers that those of historical memory are “improper” powers of the local government – ​​it has carried out actions such as establishing the municipal memory commission and continuing the works. in the old La Ranilla prison, which will house a memorial center.

The councilor stated that on a recent visit to the cemetery he saw the monument, “with an aesthetic that the relatives do not deserve.” This gave rise to Ismael Sánchez to criticize the time it took him to get to know the place, “it shows how much he cares about the victims of Franco’s regime.” In passing, he reproached him for having reset the municipal allocation for historical memory to zero, for not promoting the exhumation of the Monumento common grave, for having dismantled the Memory Office and for considering that the center of La Ranilla could house other uses.

That of historical memory, Sánchez added, “is an uncomfortable competition for you at this moment, in which you have thrown yourself into the arms of the extreme right to approve the budgets.” Likewise, he criticized that in this matter it is not worth “hiding behind strange excuses, here there is no room for equidistance or complicity with the Francoists.” And if the monument is sinking, he urged Sanz that, as mayor, “he has the obligation to fix it.”