Seville, (EFE).- The Pico Reja grave, in Seville, has been definitively closed after more than three years of exhumation work in which 1,786 corpses with signs of violence of those retaliated by the dictatorship after the coup of State prior to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
The closure of a “wound” that “never had to be opened” has been celebrated in the San Fernando Cemetery with an act attended by hundreds of relatives of those murdered, memorialist associations and representatives of local, provincial, regional and state.
This act, has pointed out Teresa García, General Director of Equality in the Seville City Council and who has led the ceremony, has symbolized the closure of “so many years of repression” something that “is not only a moral obligation, but a political duty”. of the administrations.
And it is that the remarkable number of relatives present there asked in unison “truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition” in what has become a motto that the memorialist associations themselves have endorsed.
red carnations and portraits
Paqui Maqueda, an activist for Democratic Memory, in statements to EFE, has indicated that the closure of this mass grave is “a great advance” and “an outstanding debt” with the families of the almost 1,800 people whose corpses showed clear signs of violence. .
In this sense, he has regretted that “many relatives” have not been able to witness this “historic” moment because they have “passed away” although he has highlighted the “emotion” with which those present have honored the memory of “their dead”.
Red carnations, portraits of those killed and Republican flags have been the symbols with which the almost two hundred family members in attendance have wanted to honor the memory of those who have been symbolically fired by throwing carnations and shovels of earth into a small ditch opened for the occasion.
One of the most emotional moments of the act was the intervention of Miguel Guerrero Larios, representative of the relatives who wanted to celebrate the end of the work in the “fascist horror pit” while thanking “all the people and institutions” that have made this work possible, especially “the entire Aranzadi company team” who have carried out the work and who have been visibly moved during the event.
He also wanted to thank “the work of all the institutions” with a special memory of the Seville City Council, who “pulled the car alone” promoted this initiative in 2018.
The role of memory associations
Lastly, Guerrero recalled those who were “ignominiously thrown” into the Pico Reja pit and who “fell in the name of freedom”, to close his speech with cheers to the republic under resounding applause.
A display of public fervor towards the figure of Miguel Guerrero completely opposed to that of Víctor Manuel González, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports, who has come on behalf of the Junta de Andalucía.
He has received boos after asking that “megalomaniacs such as the Russian invader try to do the same thing” that happened during the Civil War “in the 21st century.”
The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez López, highlighted the role of memory associations for “their courage and maintenance in the fight to make this a reality” and thanked them for “knowing how to keep the flame of memory alive”. .
The mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, has reported that he is “very proud to run a city like Seville, which is an example in Democratic Memory” after giving “closure to a very important wound”.
The next step in this “fight” to “preserve memory” is through the Monument Pit, just a few hundred meters from Pico Reja, where the Seville City Council will continue with the exhumations, as well as the construction of a monument to the memory of the reprisals that will be located where a grave was located such as that of Pico Reja where it is believed that the remains of Blas Infante -considered the father of the Andalusian homeland and shot in August 1936- could be. EFE
