First disappeared from Civil War identified through DNA Bank

The remains of a civilian from the western town of El Soleràs – a man of about 60 years years old, killed by the explosion of a howitzer – is going home, 80 years after his death.

He is the first recovered from the Spanish Civil War mass graves to be found using the Genetic Identification Program. Up and running since 2016, the program cross matches genetic data of bone remains with those living relatives who participated in the program by submitting their own material to the DNA Bank.

The remains of four more people also recovered at Soleràs, will be able to be identified shortly. One is a 32-year old Republican soldier with an amputated leg, a nationalist soldier, and two more civilians. All perished during the bombing of El Soleràs on Christmas night, in 1938.

“We’re running late,” proclaimed minister for justice Ester Capella. “Every day, there are fewer victims and fewer witnesses, but we’re trying to speed up.” In a year, since the Common Graves Plan was put in motion, four times the remains of disappeared soldiers and civilians were recovered than in the four decades since the transition to democracy. 

From the around forty mass graves that have been opened in the town of Miravet (in southern Catalonia) and Soleràs, around 261 remains have been recovered, especially Republican soldiers, as well as fighters from the Francoist side and civilians. These are the two biggest mass graves excavated until now in the country.