Porreres mass grave reveals victims of the Civil War

Senior Majorcan politicians at the Porreres grave today.

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPorreres05/11/2016 00:00

President Armengol and other leading politicians today visited the site of the exhumation of the mass grave in Porreres. She said that the remains in the grave are "the bones of justice, liberty and democracy" and that the work being carried out seeks to "restore the dignity of victims of the Civil War and Francoism". "People were murdered for defending freedoms we now enjoy."

The exhumation started earlier this week. On the second day more than ten bodies were found. Some had been given a "Christian" burial, with remains of coffins having also been discovered. These, it is believed, were pre-Civil War burials. Other bodies, however, were piled up. Bullet shells have also been retrieved.

There is some difficulty in being able to ascertain who the victims were. It is believed, though, that the first bodies found are those of a group of prisoners from Calvia who had been held in the concentration camp in Capdellà and who were shot in Porreres in January 1937.

The exhumation is the first to be performed since the Balearic parliament passed the law which permits the exhumation of war graves and which also opened up the possibility of investigating war crimes.

Among other politicians who visited the site were Vice-President Barceló and the president of the Council of Majorca, Miquel Ensenyat.