Remains of 17 victims of repression exhumed from the mass grave at the Aracena cemetery
Work to open the mass grave at the Aracena cemetery has recovered the remains of 17 people killed during the repression following the capture of the town by rebel troops in the Civil War.
The remains of 17 people killed during the repression following the capture of Aracena by rebel troops in the Civil War have now been exhumed from the mass grave at the town's cemetery. The bodies are being studied to compare their DNA with samples from relatives who have already contacted the Aracena Town Council.
A grave with around 140 burials
The work is part of the second campaign at the Aracena cemetery. The first delimited the collective burials and this summer the grave has been opened, where it is known that there must be approximately 140 bodies. The 17 recovered are men of different ages, according to the first anthropological studies.
The forensic team is guarding the remains and has taken samples that will be transferred this week to the University of Granada to begin the comparison with the DNA already collected. In parallel, samples have been taken from more than 50 relatives in Aracena and other nearby municipalities.
How to take part in the identification
Anyone interested in providing their DNA can do so through the Aracena Town Council, where they will be informed about the process. The mayor, Manuel Guerra, has announced a new request to the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias (FEMP) and the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory to fund the 2027 work, which will continue with the excavation of the rest of the grave.
The project lead, Andrés Fernández Martín, presented the results at a conference where the steps of this second campaign were explained. Guerra has said that this is "an outstanding debt that Aracena had with the victims and their families", who deserve "a dignified burial".
