Historical memory

Santa Maria Civil War exhumation begins

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterSanta Maria del Cami27/11/2018 15:18

Exhumation work at another Civil War grave, the eleventh, was due to have started on Monday, but the rain meant a postponement until yesterday. The grave is in Santa Maria del Camí, where the Republican mayor of Buger, Joan Alemany Villalonga, is understood to have been buried.

Forty-seven-years old, he had intended to flee Majorca for Minorca. Instead, he went into hiding in Portol, Marratxi, where he was discovered by members of the Falange. He was tortured to death near to the cemetery in Santa Maria. Balearic government sources have no evidence of any legal case having been brought against him and nor is there any official documentation related to his burial.

Historians, partly going on witness statements, have concluded that he was buried in Santa Maria. These witnesses recall there having been a plaque in his memory at the gates of the old part of the cemetery.