Madrid — Archaeologists in Spain have unearthed more bodies from mass graves dating back to the 1936-39 civil war and the ensuing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, including some that were still wearing rotting leather boots. The digs in a local cemetery in Valladolid, central Spain, come amid renewed efforts by volunteer associations and victim campaign groups to shed light on the bloody past and bring closure for relatives. Four mass graves have now been excavated in Valladolid and 228 bodies recovered there since April 2016. The graves are believed to be among an estimated more than 2,000 burial sites across Spain from the war more than 80 years ago. After Franco died in 1975, Spain passed an amnesty law, pardoning the crimes of his fascist regime. For many in the new generations, this lack of accountability meant that some of their relatives were never laid to rest. Reuters
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