Cuevas del Valle, Ávila (Spain)
The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez, handed over the remains of Marcela Castelo Blázquez, Segundo González Rodríguez and Eladio Fernández González, who were repressed in Cuevas del Valle (Ávila) in October 1936. The mayor, Alberto Martín, Aurora Fernández, promoter of the exhumation on behalf of the relatives of the people shot in Cuevas del Valle, the historian Enrique Guerra and the researcher of the anthropology department of the Aranzadi Science Association, Lourdes Herrasti, who presented the forensic report of the exhumation, took part in the event.
This exhumation is part of the four-year plan of graves launched by the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, and responds to the request of the family group and the City of Cuevas del Valle, which with the financing of the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, through the Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, in April 2022 was carried out the exhumation of two common graves in La Cruz del Cerro, according to the references and location that was indicated by several neighbors of the town. The bodies were found and recovered last year 2022 in the Alto de la Cruz and have been genetically identified.
Marcela Castelo Blázquez, 36, a widow with six children, was murdered on October 2, 1936, accused of bringing food to the militia fighters of the Puerto del Pico.
Eladio Fernández González, about 50 years old, farmer, married, with five children, belonged to the Republican Left. His son Francisco, who was then 13 years old, came to see his father’s corpse on the Cerro Cross and has been the living memory of the people.
Segundo González Rodríguez, about 70 years old, a day labourer, married to María Luisa Montesinos Gómez, who died on the northern front, had two children. One of them, Agustín, participated in the defense of the Puerto del Pico as a militia against the coup plotters, but managed to escape after the defeat. Unable to capture Augustine, his father Segundo was killed on the Cerro Cross.
During the event, the Secretary of State pointed out that "we are celebrating is an act of pure humanity. It is one more step against indifference, silence and oblivion. Marcela, Francisco and Segundo have returned to their village and can now rest in peace, together with their own."
At the end of the delivery of the remains of the victims to their relatives, they have been accompanied in the burial carried out in the cemetery of the town.