Murdered in the Spanish Civil War: 86 years later hope for burial – Spain

For twelve long years, Miguel Angel Capapé has been working toward this moment. The man from a village not far from the Spanish city of Zaragoza is the spokesman for a group of dozens of families who want to recover the remains of their loved ones who were murdered by the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. Dictator Francisco Franco ordered them to rest in the rock cathedral in the “Valley of the Fallen” in the mountains outside of Madrid. On Monday, a group of scientists climbed into the galleries containing more than 33,847 boxes full of the remains of both sides in the conflict and began preparations for the recovery. Among the experts was a forensic scientist who examined the remains of notable victims of the dictatorship in Chile, such as the singer-songwriter Victor Jara, the poet Pablo Neruda and President Salvador Allende.