Archive photo of digging at the grave in Sant Joan in 2014.

Archive photo of digging at the grave in Sant Joan in 2014.

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma09/08/2015 00:00
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The regional government is to introduce a law that will oblige town halls in Majorca to undertake exhumations at graves of those who were executed for defending the Republic during the Civil War. Thanks to work by volunteers from Memòria de Mallorca, 47 graves are known of in which there are the remains of 1,162 people.

Among the towns that would need to perform exhumations are Alaro, Calvia, Manacor, Porreres and Son Servera, and while there is a commitment to do so, there is a worry that there wouldn't be the funding to permit it. As a result, town halls such as Son Servera's are calling on the law to be supported financially by government.

In June 2014, the first such exhumation in Majorca took place. It was in a communal grave in Sant Joan, and the remains that were recovered were those of three men from Maria de la Salut who were shot by the Falange. This exhumation work had been paralysed by a court order, but insistence on behalf of Memòria de Mallorca, with the support of the town hall and families, enabled it to go ahead.