Spain advances historical memory efforts in Cáceres and Cieza

Efforts to recover historical memory regarding the Francoist repression in Spain are progressing in both Cáceres and Cieza.

In Cáceres, exhumation work has begun at the municipal cemetery to investigate a mass grave that could contain up to 300 bodies. This project, led by the Historical Memory and Democracy Service of the Cáceres Provincial Council, follows years of research by the association AMECECA, which has documented nearly 700 victims of repression in the city. The intervention will involve archaeological delimitation, forensic anthropology, and scientific documentation to determine the exact number of remains and the circumstances of their burial.

In Cieza, researchers Vicente Medrano Salamanca and Alfonso Cayuela Martínez are presenting findings on the repressive apparatus used in the region between 1936 and 1945. Their work highlights Cieza as a significant hub for repression in the province of Murcia, where thousands of individuals linked to labor organizations or the Republican army were held in various detention and internment centers, including the Ascoy concentration camp and the Cieza Party Prison.