Work in Ibiza cemetery concludes with remains of at least three possible victims

The Balearic Government has finished the excavation works corresponding to the first action of the V Graves Plan in the old cemetery of Ses Figueretes, in Ibiza. The work, which began last November 18, has allowed the recovery of skeletal remains corresponding to a minimum of three individuals, compatible with the victims sought from the Civil War and Franco’s repression.

The intervention has been carried out by the Aranzadi-Atics technical team and is part of the public policies of democratic memory, as well as the institutional commitment to the location, recovery and identification of missing persons, as reported by the Regional Ministry of Presidency, Coordination of Government Action and Local Cooperation.

This action is the fourth exhumation campaign in the cemetery of Ses Figueretes and gives continuity to the work carried out in previous years. In 2024, these interventions allowed the identification of three victims, the first officially recognized on the island of Ibiza. The works have been promoted by the Govern and have had the collaboration of the City Council of Ibiza and the Forum for the Memory of Ibiza and Formentera.

The excavation was carried out by a team of nine specialists in archaeology and forensic anthropology and focused on the opening of three probes, parallel to those carried out in previous campaigns, in a previously defined area based on historical and archaeological studies.

In test pit 1, 22 funerary units corresponding to ordinary burials have been documented, in addition to the recovery of a long weapon projectile, identified as a Spanish Mauser rifle. Test pit 2, the most extensive, has located 48 ordinary burial units and two sets of disarticulated bone remains, including at least three adult skulls with fractures caused by firearms. This same survey has documented part of a burial without funerary treatment and with a different orientation than usual, which could correspond to one of the victims sought, as well as another projectile.

On the other hand, in test pit 3, 30 ordinary funerary units have been identified, as well as part of the jacket of a firearm projectile and several disarticulated bone remains, which will have to be analyzed in depth during the laboratory work scheduled for the coming months.

The forensic anthropology and genetic analyses, which will be carried out in reference laboratories, may allow us to increase the number of individuals compatible with the victims sought and to advance in the identification process.