MASS GRAVE, GUADALAJARA CEMETERY
Request to place memorial and dedication to those executed by the Franco regime denied.
Sadly the request by the families of the victims executed here to place a memorial and dedication to them, has been refused by the local mayor, despite protest and despite central government providing the grant. Instead there are plans to build a garden with a cross as a general commemoration to all buried here in the communal graves. As well as those executed, in the 40s and 50s those too poor to pay for plots/headstones were placed here, and of course while this is sad in itself, the point is that the local government do not want to acknowledge or condemn the crimes committed against the Republicans by the Franco regime. Another example of the Law of Historical Memory 2007 being ignored by right wing local governments, highlighting the persistent struggle for real democracy in Spain and the deep rooted unresolved issues stemming from the Civil War and dictatorship.
left: mass grave
Photos: Christine Jones © 2011
