The Government of the Balearic Islands’ 4th Plan of Actions in Civil War and Francoist Graves (2022-2023) includes a batch specifically dedicated to carrying out 15 multidisciplinary studies with which to delve into all areas related to democratic memory and take a step beyond the possible location of graves and burials of victims of the Civil War and Franco’s repression.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Vice-Presidency of the Government, through the Directorate General for Democratic Memory, thus aims to highlight the work of the community of researchers in the Balearic Islands, who have so far published numerous high-quality studies that have provided very useful information for the victims and their families, and also to learn what happened in each place.

With this objective in mind, and also with the aim of encouraging the production of research work, both to study the subject in-depth and to discover new data, the Government’s 4th Graves Plan will include, following the spirit and the articles of the Law of Memory and Democratic Recognition of the Balearic Islands, a specific series of multidisciplinary studies that will have to be carried out by a team of psychologists, jurists and anthropologists, as well as specialists in Human Rights, in addition to historians.

Some of these studies are:

Exile in the Balearic Islands

Historical context, “internal” exile and case studies by island.

Study on the bombing of the forces from the Balearic Islands and the bombing of the Balearic Islands.

Location of the bombardments in the Balearic Islands caused by air and sea forces; location of the bombardments on the mainland caused by air and/or sea forces from the Balearic Islands; casualties caused by the two bombardments.

Evolution of transgenerational trauma after the 1936 coup d’état in the Balearic Islands.

Study of transitional justice and transgenerational trauma from a global point of view: trauma in relation to the different contexts of violence (forced disappearances, repression of women, concentration camps and forced labour, mistreatment of families, etc.); evaluation of trauma reparation policies towards victims; individual and collective memory.

Evaluation of the Government’s democratic memory policies in light of the latest reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition and in light of the 2030 Agenda.

Evaluation of actions prior to the entry into force of the two memory laws of the GOIB aimed at the objectives of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition of the United Nations in the Balearic Islands (Law 10/2016, of 13 June, for the recovery of persons who disappeared during the Civil War and Francoism, and Law 2/2018, of 13 April, on democratic memory and recognition of the Balearic Islands); Evaluation of the content of the two laws and linkage with the United Nations reports; evaluation of the GOIB’s policies aimed at the objectives of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition of the United Nations in the Balearic Islands; global evaluation.

Study on the policies of Franco’s memory in the Balearic Islands

Contextualisation of the state and the case of the Balearic Islands (historical-legal analysis); policies of Francoist glorification that stand out throughout Spain and with special interest in the Balearic Islands; policies of economic repression with special interest in the Balearic Islands; policies of reparation for the victims of the Francoist faction in the Balearic Islands (economic, rights, labour, etc.).

Inventory of properties expropriated or that ended up in the hands of the State or in the hands of the main actors of Franco’s repression or victims of the national side, due to the effect of repression on the defeated; inventory of pensions received; noteworthy cases of Franco’s glorification island by island.

Policies of Francoist memory in education in the Balearic Islands; purge of teachers in the Balearic Islands.

Psychological effects of the application of Francoist memory policies on families repressed by Francoism (or the rebel side) during and after the Civil War.

Germans and Italians active in the fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini in hiding in the Balearic Islands after World War II.

Historical context; case studies; participation and relationship with Franco’s regime; decorations awarded to Germans and Italians in the Balearic Islands after World War II.

In addition, there will also be in-depth studies on the Desembarco de Bayo and everything related to the context and origin of those who embarked on the expedition, with a chapter or sub-chapter on the expeditionaries of Balearic origin; on the relationship between the Balearic Islands and the Valley of the Fallen from the beginning of its construction (institutional and/or administrative connections for the transfer of remains to the Valley and the location of these remains); on the victims who died in hospitals or in detention (context, location of places and case studies), and on the air-raid shelters during the Civil War, among others.