Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Forensics denounce the pressure and sabotage of the right end in the excavations of Cuelgamuros

  • In Cuelgamuros, Madrid, on the excavations that archeologists are doing in the monument called Valley of the Falls, the extreme right pressure is constant, according to the coroner Pako Etxeberria. During these days, the families of the Republican victims have been able to visit the largest common site in the Spanish state. Thousands of remains were deposited by the Francoists without the authorization of their relatives.

03 May 2024 - 17:28
Last updated: 18:45
Pako Etxeberria auzitegi-medikua Pedro Sánchez Espainiako presidenteari azalpenak ematen Cuelgamurosen, astelehen honetan. Argazkia: Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa
Zarata mediatikoz beteriko garai nahasiotan, merkatu logiketatik urrun eta irakurleengandik gertu dagoen kazetaritza beharrezkoa dela uste baduzu, ARGIA bultzatzera animatu nahi zaitugu. Geroz eta gehiago gara, jarrai dezagun txikitik eragiten.

"All this is surrounded by a Francoist odor, everything is pre-constitutional and has never been touched at this time." Pako Etxeberria Aranzadi's coroner explains this to the announcer of the Basque Radio Boulevard program, when he asks about the excavations being carried out in Cuelgamuros.

Etxeberria has denounced the constant pressure of the far right: "We have seen incredible concentrations, with flags, roads and accesses, that were scary. We tried to go unnoticed, but they found us completely and photographed us."

He explained that they had all kinds of obstacles: the ultra-right associations have appealed to stop excavations, and at some point the courts have managed to get them ordered. "But in the end the court itself said first of all that there is the right of the relatives of the victims, that the "peace of the dead".

"We've seen incredible concentrations with scary flags and roads and accesses. We have tried to go unnoticed, but they found us and have taken photos"

Etxeberria has a great experience working in different situations, but he recognizes that it is the place itself that produces a certain emotion: "Thousands of people raised, not only on the entrance esplanade, are everywhere." The idea of the government is to give new meaning to the place, but it says that, at the moment, when entering the basilica there is nothing to explain why the building is there and how it was built with slave labor.

He has also explained that they have suffered the sabotages and is convinced that behind them there are extreme people on the right. "They have sent us letters advising us because we believe we can bear some responsibility." He hasn't used the word "threat," but he has been "advised."

Family visits

For the first time, several relatives of Republican victims have been able to enter the Falls Valley to learn first-hand about the excavations being carried out there, among them some from the Basque Country.

At the moment, the remains of 12 people have been identified, but there are thousands – some 33,000, according to various sources – although the state of bones is not good, because the deposits are sunk. Thus, archaeologists have recognized that in many cases it will be very difficult to recover the remains that family members have sought for so many years.

In the Franco monument, located in the valley of Cuelgamuros, in the late 1950s the remains of thousands of Republicans were introduced to pay tribute to Franco. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Testimony of Jasone Aretxabaleta

Among those who have been in Cuelgamuros these days is Jasone Aretxabaleta, and several media outlets have gathered their testimony. So far they believed that a man of yours was buried in the Markina-Xemein cemetery.

During the 1936 War, the Falangists, subject to the arrest and release of their father, forced Jasone's uncle, Alesander Aretxabaleta, to fight on the Franco side, but never liberated his father and died on Alesander's front.

"We couldn't believe. Like many others, they took the body without any permission, only the most fascist."

His name appeared on a list made by Gogorak in 2019, which was located not in Markina-Xemein, but in the Falls Valley. "We couldn't believe," he explains to the public newspaper. Like many others, they took the corpse without any permission, only the most fascist."

Aretxabaleta has denounced the long process they have suffered since to recover the bones of their uncle, and it is clear that this prolongation is due not only to the situation of the deposits, but also to the obstacles that are being judicially and otherwise: "They have done everything, they have put glue on them so that they do not open doors in the lock."

The fascists of Cuelgamuros want to close the doors so that the wind does not lead forever the smell of Franco.


You are interested in the channel: Oroimen historikoa
Bego Ariznabarreta Orbea No War
"We still have the traumas and symptoms of the war of our elders."
Their parents were murdered, and the children began to evict the loft. Among other things, lots of notebooks and papers, photographs and all kinds of documents. Bego Ariznabarreta Orbea read in blank the astounding memories of his late father's war, and realized the treasure,... [+]

Aurresku, bertsos and musical performances in tribute to Germán Rodríguez
Another year, Monday 8 July will be remembered with the monolith dedicated to Germán Rodríguez. It will be at 13:00 hours: the aurresku, first, the bertsos of Mikel Lasarte and then the performances of La Furia and Fermin Balentzia. At dusk, the Peñas, silently and with the... [+]

The Government of Navarre recognises Ángel Berrueta and his relatives as victims of police violence
Naiz.eus states that Ángel Berrueta, killed by a police officer and his son in March 2004, and his widows and children, will be officially recognised by the Government of Navarra as victims of the violence carried out by the police forces.

Tribute to the slaves of Franco who built the road between Igari and Bidankoz
Between 1939 and 1941, the 2,400 Franco slaves who were forced to build the road between Igari and Vidángoz were honoured on Saturday at the height of Igi. Representatives of the association El Camino de la Memoria organised a tribute in which they claimed that the memory of... [+]

Rosi Zarra. The new old ones?

To Rosa, yes, because that's what home and friends said. On 30 June she will be 29 years old as a result of an infection caused by a pelotazo released 7-8 meters by the Ertzainas. This was evident at the hearing or working session held on 26 January 2023 before the Police Victim... [+]


Turn on the recorder, discover the past

As our profession has been accused of ideologizing and being subjective, historians have a special obsession with maintaining objectivity and scientific rigor. Consequently, in the past, there was also prejudice among historians about sources of life. Human memory is not... [+]


The Government of Navarre recognises tortured citizens as victims in the period 2005-2011
The Tortured Network of Navarre has reported the acceptance of nineteen new victims by the Commission for Recognition and Reparation of the Government of Navarre, five of which were tortured between 2005 and 2011 by Mikeldi Diez, Iker Aristu, Oihan Ataun, Garbiñe Urra and Mikel... [+]

The corpse of Modesto Manuel Azkona Garaicoechea, Member of Álava and neighbour of Saratxo, shot by the Francoists has been identified.
Born in Villafranca, a member of the Republican Union who lived in Saratxo and whose wife was his teacher. Killed in September 1936 by the Francoists, on Friday he managed to identify his remains.

Jesus Carrera, communist leader tortured and shot by the Franco, on the screen
However, Jesús Carrera Olascoaga (Hondarribia 1911 – Alcala de Henares 1945) became secretary general of the Communist Party of Spain. Arrested, tortured and shot by the franchisees, his remains were uncovered in 2018 in the cemetery of Alcalá de Henares. Who was it? Why did... [+]

“Ezin da kontsulta baten emaitzetatik erabaki Iruñeko Erorien Monumentuaren etorkizuna”

Erorien Monumentua eraisteko eskatzen duten memoria elkarteen ustez ezin da eraikin frankista horren etorkizuna utzi herritarren esku: “Faxismoa omentzen duen eraikinarekin zer egin frankismoaren oinordekoek ere parte hartzen ahal duten galdeketa batek ezin du... [+]


2024-05-22 | Euskal Irratiak
Ezkabako presondegi frankistako ihesaldia oroitu dute Urepelen, ‘La Fuga’ lasterketarekin

86 urte bete dira asteazkenean Iruñean 795 preso errepublikarrek Europako ihesaldi handiena egin zutela. Aldiz, abantzu 800 iheslari horietarik bakarrik hiruk erdietsi zuten muga trabeskatzea.


The Navarre Parliament rejects UPN's attempt to equalize victims and coup d'état in 1936
The Committee on Memory and Coexistence, Foreign Action and the Basque Country rejected the motion tabled by UPN that required the inclusion in the memory database of the Report to the victims of the 1936 War in the territories under the control of the Republic. The motion was... [+]

Eneko Etxeberria
“Ez nioke nire semeari Jose Miguelen bilaketaren zama utzi nahi”

Jose Miguel Etxeberria Naparra-ren gorpua aurkitu gabe bukatu da Frantziako Landetan egindako bigarren indusketa. 44 urte dira militantea desagertu zenetik eta bere familiaren belaunaldi batetik bestera pasa da bere bilaketaren zama.


Eguneraketa berriak daude