A technical worker digs out a human bone from a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.Reuters
A technical worker digs out a human bone from a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersTechnical labourers work at a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersTechnical labourers work at a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersTechnical labourers work at a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersA technical worker stands up as he places an awning above a mass grave to protect it from the climate in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersA technical worker digs out a human bone from a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersA technical worker digs out a human bone from a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersA technical worker carries boxes of human skeleton remains as he walks past the "Tombs of the National Band" in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersA technical worker digs out a human bone from a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.ReutersTechnical workers place an awning above a mass grave in a cemetery at Teba, southern Spanish province of Malaga March 16, 2012. The remains of about 125 people might be buried in the mass grave in Teba after they were killed during the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1949, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Antequera and its shire said. The mass grave is the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.Reuters
A mass grave linked to the Spanish Civil War has been discovered in the southern Spanish province of Malaga on 16 March, 2012.
With the remains of around 125 people buried, the mass grave in Teba is said to be the second largest discovered during an exhumation process so far in Spain.
During the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, mass executions were carried out with the notion of "cleaning up of the country from the evils which had overtaken it." Although the death toll remains debatable, British historian Antony Beevor mentioned in his book on the Civil War that Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's Nationalist Movement during the period led to the death of more than 200,000 people.
Recently, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARHM) started a search for mass graves of people executed during Franco's regime, which has been supported since the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party's (PSOE) victory during the 2004 elections by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government.
In 2006, a law on the Historical Memory of Spain was approved by the council of ministers. However, it was only in 2007 that the Congress of Deputies approved an amended version of the law to establish measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Civil War.
In Dec 2007, the government passed the bill to organise under state supervision the search for mass graves.
Start the slideshow to catch a glimpse of the mass graves:
