The search for the remains of poet and playwright Federico García Lorca will be resumed next October if it receives green light from the Andalusia Board, archaeologist Javier Navarro announced today.
Interviewed by Prensa Latina, Navarro explained that they already have all the necessary field resources, after the interruption last May of the search due to the fact that the Andalusia government withdrew its financial support.
The Spanish archaeologist explained that if the authorization is obtained, the project will be resumed in October, when temperatures are lower but there are still many hours of daylight.
Navarro said in theory the plan had already been approved by a technical commission, but when the person in charge changed, the decision for the search was passed on to a civil association and then came legal doubt about the authorization.
He indicated the necessary resources were obtained through micro-donations and through an anonymous contributor, besides promises of support from the University of Nottingham, from the United Kingdom, although this last commitment has not been received yet.
Navarro told Prensa Latina he is convinced that previous searches were interrupted barely 20 meters from the place where Garcia Lorca was buried together with teacher Dióscoro Galindo and the Banderilleros (bullfighters) Francisco Galadí and Joaquín Argollas.
According to most versions, Garcia Lorca was assassinated on August 17, 1936 for his Republican ideas and his homosexual condition and his remains lie buried some place in the zone of Alfacar, Granada, in the south of Spain.
The crime was committed during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, period between the coup d’etat he headed in 1936 and his death in 1975.
In that lapse around 130 to 150 thousand Spanish were shot to death and over 100 thousand remain buried in non-located graves.
Another 300 thousand were exiled, 270 thousand incarcerated and about 10 thousand children of Republican parents were kidnapped.
Despite the notoriety and violence of the tragedy, no one has been condemned for those crimes, although victims and relatives and organizations of historic memory claim for justice.
Without any official financial support, civil associations have identified the corpses of approximately 6500 assassinated victims, but many remains are thought to be in ditches or unidentified places, as is the case of poet and playwright Garcia Lorca. (PL)