The search for victims of Francoist repression in Jaén province has produced sharply contrasting outcomes this summer. In Linares, archaeologists have recovered the first nine bodies from a municipal cemetery mass grave. In Jaén capital, a year-long campaign ended without locating the 173 executed individuals believed to be buried there. The technical team found no evidence of violent deaths among the remains, prompting a shift in strategy. The result also shows the complexity of these historical investigations.
Work in Linares began in June at the cemetery’s fosa 25. Archaeological excavation is underway, with forensic anthropology guiding the work and DNA analysis also ongoing. The team expects to find up to 25 victims, including prominent republican politicians Francisco Gil Teruel and José Piqueras Muñoz. Antonio Moreno Pérez is also among the names cited, alongside miners affiliated with UGT and CNT. Linares, a major mining center during the Civil War, saw many of its workers actively resist the Francoist uprising, a fact underscored by the president of the Asociación de Memoria Histórica de Jaén.
The exhumation project is funded by a €100,000 grant from the Spanish government, channeled through the Diputación de Jaén. Provincial officials say the effort aims both to recover history and to restore dignity to victims and their families. The remains from Linares will be temporarily housed in a specially prepared space at the former Santa Catalina Mártir chapel in Jaén for conservation and identification.
The campaign at San Eufrasio cemetery in Jaén capital, the city’s basic execution and burial site after the war, concluded in July after nearly a year of fieldwork. The team dug nine test pits and excavated 209 burial structures, but none of the remains matched the profile of the 173 Francoist repression victims sought. The University of Jaén had identified the initial location based on historical testimony, but it proved inaccurate. The site revealed only secondary bone deposits and ritualized child burials, with no signs of mass executions.
Project leaders have requested authorization to focus on broader excavation and localization instead of immediate exhumation and identification. San Eufrasio’s high density and complex burial history, dating back to the early 19th century, complicate the search. Experts believe fosa 548 may contain leading figures from union and political circles, including Cristóbal Valenzuela and Alejandro Peris Caruana. José López Quero is also among those believed to be buried there. Recent excavations, but, uncovered only a collective deposit from the 1970s and 1980s, unrelated to the Civil War period.
These efforts form part of a wider initiative by the Diputación de Jaén, particularly through the Instituto de Estudios Gienenses, to recover historical memory. The initiative includes digitizing more than 15,000 judicial files of Jaén residents prosecuted during the Civil War and Francoist dictatorship. The province estimates that 3,715 people died so of Francoist repression between 1936 and 1952.
Spain’s ongoing work to locate and identify Civil War victims remains complex and sensitive, often hindered by incomplete records and altered burial sites. The situation in Jaén reflects broader national challenges, as highlighted in other recent news, including the government’s investment in historical and cultural projects. Local authorities and families continue to pursue the search for truth and closure despite technical obstacles.
