In a small corner of El Bierzo, in the province of León, a dark secret was kept for many years. Only a few knew about the tragedy that took place in the summer of 1936, when, at the height of the civil war, two unknown individuals were killed. They became known as Los Garbanzos, but their real names remained a mystery for nearly eight decades.
Everything changed when an elderly resident of Cubillos del Sil named Martina Fernández, recalling events from her youth, shared details of that day with researcher Santiago Macías. She remembered hearing gunshots while working in the fields and how the executioners addressed the victims by their nicknames. The local residents who buried the bodies by the roadside had no idea who these people were or where they came from.
In 2009, Martina showed Macías the burial site and even sketched a map. This investigation took an unusual path: typically, the victims’ names are known but not the location of their deaths, yet here it was the opposite. Unfortunately, Martina passed away, but she managed to leave behind a vital clue that, years later, allowed the forgotten story to resurface.
Santiago Macías, head of the ‘Seeds of Memory’ association, began painstaking work to identify the deceased. His archives contain thousands of names of those repressed in the region, but Los Garbanzos were not among them. Unexpectedly, he came across old notes left by an anonymous source, mentioning possible mass grave locations and names: Julio and Leocadia, the woman being referred to as La Garbanza.
After checking the 1935 Ponferrada residency records, Macías discovered Julio Fernández and Leocadia Martín, a married couple aged 39 and 37. By 1940, they no longer appeared in the documents. It turned out that Leocadia was originally from La Hiniesta (Zamora), and Julio from San Martín de Tábara. It is believed they moved to Ponferrada during the mining boom.
Further research led to military archives: Julio Fernández, known as Garbanzo, was a member of the resistance committee after the Francoist coup. Shortly after the mayor of Ponferrada was arrested and executed, Julio was declared wanted on charges of rebellion. Macías believes the couple were executed without trial, likely in their own home.
The association is now preparing for archaeological work to locate their remains and, potentially, restore the memory of Julio and Leocadia to their descendants, who may not even be aware of the tragedy that befell their ancestors.
