Editing Federico García Lorca (section)

==Search for remains==
[[File:Lorca Olive Tree.jpg|thumb|upright|Olive tree marking putative site of Lorca's burial, as it was in 1999]]
The later 20th, and particularly the 21st centuries have seen numerous, unsuccessful attempts to locate García Lorca's remains. The first published account is in a 1949 book by the British Hispanist [[Gerald Brenan]], ''The Face of Spain''.<ref>Gerald Brenan, ''The Face of Spain'', Chapter 6, 'Granada'. (Serif, London, 2010).</ref> By the 21st century advances in technology gave scope for identifying remains of victims of Francoist repression. The year 2000 saw the foundation of the [[Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory]], which grew out of the quest by a sociologist, [[Emilio Silva|Emilio Silva-Barrera]], to locate and identify the remains of his grandfather, who was shot by Franco's forces in 1936.

Three efforts have been made in the 21st century to locate García Lorca's body. The first, in 2009, in the García Lorca Memorial Park; the second, in 2014, less than a kilometre from the first excavation,<ref>[https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/11/18/inenglish/1416327923_257506.html "New search for Lorca's grave begins"]. ''El País'', 19 Nov 2014.</ref> and the last, in 2016, in [[Alfacar]].<ref>[https://viajesbaratoseuropa.com/granada-abre-barranco-lleno-versos-muertos/ "Granada abre un barranco lleno de versos y muertos"] </ref> In 2008, a Spanish judge opened an investigation into García Lorca's death. The García Lorca family dropped objections to the excavation of a potential gravesite near Alfacar, but no human remains were found.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Giles Tremlett |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/18/federico-garcia-lorca-grave-alfacar |title=No remains found |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=14 August 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7624887.stm |title=Lorca family to allow exhumation |date=18 September 2008 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=28 May 2009}}</ref> The investigation was ultimately dropped and a further investigation was begun in 2016, but met with no more success.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/17/argentina-judge-investigation-federico-garcia-lorca-spain |title=Judge opens investigation into death of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca |website=The Guardian |date=18 August 2016 |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref> 

In late October 2009, a team of archaeologists and historians from the University of Granada began excavations outside Alfacar.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abend |first=Lisa |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1932879,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031093053/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1932879,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2009 |title=Exhuming Lorca's remains and Franco's ghosts |date=29 October 2009 |access-date=14 August 2012 |website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> The site was identified three decades previously by a man who said he had helped dig Lorca's grave.<ref>Gibson pp. 467–8</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Giles Tremlett in Madrid |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/18/federico-garcia-lorca-grave-alfacar |title=article "Spanish archeologists fail to find Federico García Lorca's grave" |date=18 December 2009 |work=The Guardian|access-date=14 August 2012 |location=London}}</ref> Lorca was thought to be buried with at least three other men beside a winding mountain road that connects the villages of [[Víznar]] and Alfacar.<ref>"Lorca's Granada" pp. 113–123</ref>

The excavations began at the request of another victim's family.<ref name = BBC/> Following a long-standing objection, the Lorca family also gave their permission.<ref name = BBC/> In October 2009, Francisco Espínola, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry of the [[Andalusia]]n regional government, said that after years of pressure, García Lorca's body would "be exhumed in a matter of weeks."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woolls |first=Daniel |title=Spain: Garcia Lorca Grave to be Opened in Weeks |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010004347_apeuspaincivilwar.html?syndication=rss |website=The Seattle Times |date=5 October 2009 |access-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030072147/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010004347_apeuspaincivilwar.html?syndication=rss |archive-date=30 October 2009}}</ref> Lorca's relatives, who had initially opposed an exhumation, said they might provide a [[DNA]] sample in order to identify his remains.<ref name="BBC">{{Cite news |last=Kingstone |first=Steve |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8331049.stm |title=article 28 October 2009 |date=28 October 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref>

In late November 2009, after two weeks of excavating the site, organic material that was believed to be human bones was recovered. The remains were taken to the University of Granada for examination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theleader.info/article/20640/spain/costa-del-sol/lorcas-grave-first-bones-found/ |title="The Leader" Article "First bones found" |publisher=Theleader.info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225113141/http://www.theleader.info/article/20640/spain/costa-del-sol/lorcas-grave-first-bones-found/ |archive-date=25 February 2012 |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> But in mid-December 2009, doubts were raised as to whether the poet's remains would be found.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-44806720091217?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true |last=Castillo |first=Raquel |title=Doubts rise over Spanish poet Lorca's remains |date=17 December 2009 |website=Reuters |access-date=21 March 2021 |archive-date=11 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211061209/http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-44806720091217?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true |url-status=dead }}</ref> The dig produced "not one bone, item of clothing or bullet shell", said Begoña Álvarez, justice minister of Andalucia. She added, "the soil was only 40&nbsp;cm (16in) deep, making it too shallow for a grave."<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8421210.stm |title=article "Spanish dig fails to find grave of poet Lorca" |date=18 December 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Giles Tremlett in Madrid |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/18/federico-garcia-lorca-grave-alfacar |title=article 18 Dec 09 – "No remains found" |date=18 December 2009 |work=The Guardian|access-date=14 August 2012 |location=London}}</ref> The failed excavation cost €70,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/lorca-s-grave-may-be-uncovered-78-years-after-execution-1.2023059 |last=Hedgecoe |first=Guy |newspaper=The Irish Times |title=Lorca's grave may be uncovered 78 years after execution |date=2 December 2014 |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref>

In January 2012, a local historian, Miguel Caballero Pérez, author of  "The last 13 hours of García Lorca",<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elimparcial.es/libros/miguel-caballero-perez-las-trece-ultimas-horas-en-la-vida-de-garcia-lorca-89324.html |title="Las trece ultimas horas en la vida de Garcia Lorca" (in Spanish) |publisher=Elimparcial.es |access-date=2014-03-19}}</ref> applied for permission to excavate another area less than half a kilometre from the site, where he believes Lorca's remains are located.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Govan |first=Fiona |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8997854/New-search-underway-for-civil-war-grave-of-poet-Lorca.html# |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108085521/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8997854/New-search-underway-for-civil-war-grave-of-poet-Lorca.html |archive-date=2012-01-08 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=New search underway for civil war grave of poet Lorca |date=6 January 2012 |access-date=2014-03-19 |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London}}</ref>

Claims in 2016, by Stephen Roberts, an associate professor in Spanish literature at Nottingham University, and others that the poet's body was buried in a well in Alfacar have not been substantiated.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/13/remains-of-federico-garca-lorca-hidden-at-the-bottom-of-a-well/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/13/remains-of-federico-garca-lorca-hidden-at-the-bottom-of-a-well/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Remains of Federico García Lorca 'hidden at the bottom of a well' |website=The Telegraph |last=Badcock |first=James |date=13 April 2016 |access-date=21 March 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2021, it was reported that there would be an investigation of [[Mass grave|mass graves]] at Barranco de Víznar (a locality near Víznar where there is a memorial to Lorca). This project had the support of families who believed that relatives were buried there. The archaeologist directing the investigation explained that the poet was only one of hundreds of people whose remains might be uncovered.<ref name="Publico">{{Cite news |last=Cano |title=Fusilados en el Barranco |language=Spanish |url=https://www.publico.es/sociedad/fusilados-barranco-viznar-historia-400.html |access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref> Excavations at the site have continued,<ref name="Pais">{{Cite news |last=Junquera |first=Natalia |date=April 2024 |title=Un niño sin nombre entre los fusilados del barranco de Víznar |url=https://elpais.com/espana/2024-04-20/un-nino-sin-nombre-entre-los-fusilados-del-barranco-de-viznar.html |access-date=2025-03-08 |language=Spanish}}</ref> and are still in progress as at 2025.<ref>[https://cadenaser.com/andalucia/2025/03/07/el-hallazgo-de-tres-nuevas-fosas-comunes-en-el-barranco-de-viznar-eleva-a-144-la-cifra-de-victimas-exhumadas-radio-granada/ El hallazgo de tres nuevas fosas en el Barranco de Víznar eleva a 144 la cifra de víctimas exhumadas]</ref>