Spain begins exhumation of 15 Franco-era victims in Cáceres

The Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi has started work to locate and exhume a mass grave containing 15 victims of Francoist repression in Conquista de la Sierra, Cáceres. The operation, the first of its kind in the area, is supported by the Diputación de Cáceres, AMECECA and funded by the Spanish Secretariat of State for Democratic Memory. The project will include forensic and genetic analysis of the remains to identify the victims and provide families with dignified burials.

Separately, 99‑year‑old Francisca Saraiba, who spent decades searching for the remains of her father José Saraiba, executed in 1937, has died. Saraiba had supplied DNA samples for comparison with bones recovered in previous exhumations and participated in memorial events, urging that the victims receive truth, justice and reparations. Families continue to await definitive identification results.