The Government has invited the relatives of the victims buried in the now called Cuelgamuros to the Cuelgamuros Valley – historically known as the Valley of the Fallen – after the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, visited the installed forensic laboratory this Thursday. there, government sources have confirmed.
Through a letter to which Europa Press has had access, the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Fernando Martínez, has extended the invitation to all relatives who have submitted the exhumation request to visit the laboratory installed in the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher of the Valle de Cuelgamuros, with the aim of being able to gather first-hand information about the circumstances, obstacles and progress of the work.
According to the letter, they will be received by members of the forensic team that has been working in the crypts since June 2023, and a detailed explanation will be given about the search operation, and the relatives will have the opportunity to raise any questions they deem appropriate.
For safety reasons and due to the occupational risk protocol in force in the place, once the interested people are known, small groups will be organized, explains the letter, which also asks those interested to confirm their attendance by replying to an email. electronic to manage accreditations.
Sánchez came by surprise, since this visit was not on the Government’s official agenda, together with the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, who recently confirmed that the Council of Ministers of April 23 was working on several measures to continue developing the Memory Law and continue with the exhumation work.
After Sánchez’s visit became public, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH) subsequently filed a complaint, denouncing that the relatives were not allowed to go to the forensic laboratory.
The Government has argued that the invitations began to be processed this morning and that they could not be carried out before due to the work and the need to guarantee the safety of the visitors. Likewise, he recalled that the Executive has held several meetings with relatives in which information from the Valley of the Fallen has been transmitted, according to sources.
As explained by the Government, the Chief Executive has gone to Cuelgamuros to learn first-hand about the work being carried out by the forensic team for the exhumation of 160 victims “whose remains have been claimed by their relatives and who are found in the crypts of this property assigned to National Heritage,” they point out.
After touring the central nave of the basilica with the minister and the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, Sánchez has accessed the forensic laboratory and, later, the crypts or columbariums where the remains are located. A technical team made up of six forensic doctors and more than 20 researchers specializing in history, archeology and genetics participates in the location and identification work.
