The remains of Juan Chueca Sagarra, an Aragonese day laborer shot in 1936 in Cuelgamuros, have been identified.

2024-07-14 11:15:00

The Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has informed the family of Juan Chueca Sagarra, an Aragonese day laborer who was shot in 1936, about the identification of his remains in the Cuelgamuros Valley. “Unfortunately, Enrique, the youngest son of Juan, died a few weeks ago and we did not manage to communicate it directly to him, but to his granddaughter,” said the minister, according to the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Memory Democratic.

Juan Chueca Sagarra was a 42-year-old day laborer who had five children and was killed in August 1936. He is the second body from a grave in Borja (Zaragoza) that has been identified in the Cuelgamuros Valley (the previous one Esteban Giménez ). Ezpeleta).

In total, with the four-year exhumation plan, it has already been possible to identify 13 burials, 11 of them from Aldeaseca (Ávila). So far there are 170 families who have requested recognition in the Valley.

The Minister has emphasized the Government’s commitment to the Law of Democratic Remembrance and that the recognition of the bodies brought to the Valley in the 1950s will continue. “Bodies were changed, in the case of Republicans, without even notifying their families,” the department points out.

In addition, he emphasized that it is important to continue working “without further interference,” because time is against the families who demand “truth and compensation.” Torres considers these identifications to be “an act of humanity” and that it is “really emotional” to personally inform the families. “Finally they know what really happened to them and they will be able to give their loved ones a dignified burial where they see fit,” he said.

The National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences continues to work on identifying more bodies from the Borja mass grave that were moved during the dictatorship to the Cuelgamuros Valley, and according to the forensic team’s estimates, more bodies from this zone.