The Valley of Cuelgamuros: Reinterpreting a Contested Site of Memory

Abstract

This presentation examines the Valley of Cuelgamuros as a monumental legacy of Franco’s dictatorship, Spain’s largest Civil War burial site, and a focus of democratic memory policy. It traces the transfer of 33,833 people’s remains from approximately 500 burial sites and considers why the monument has not achieved broad acceptance as a symbol of national reconciliation. The presentation outlines the legal and institutional transformation initiated by the Historical Memory Law of 2007 and continued through the Democratic Memory Law of 2022. Milestones include Franco’s exhumation in 2019, the relocation of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 2023, and the opening of the Santo Sepulcro crypt in June 2023. Architectural sections and plans explain the distribution of remains within the basilica, particularly the five levels of the Santo Sepulcro columbarium, containing 18,391 victims. Reported progress includes permission granted to 222 families, 411 bodies exhumed, 304 genetically analysed, and 25 identified and returned to relatives. Outstanding challenges involve launching the State DNA Bank, integrating thousands of profiles from eleven accredited laboratories, and obtaining further matches. The case connects legal reform, forensic identification, family restitution, and the transformation of a contested commemorative landscape.