Manacor will mark the trenches where more than 130 victims of fascism were found with special paving and plaques.

ManacorThe Manacor City Council wants everyone who enters the Son Coletes municipal cemetery to know exactly what lies beneath their feet, under the five meters of earth covering the trenches dug during the Balearic Government's three mass grave exhumation plans, from 2020 to 2023, which were key to the recovery of more than a hundred bodies. "Something has to be done to remind people that this was the site of the greatest repression in Mallorca," explains Councilor Sebastià Llodrà (Més-Esquerra). Among the council's proposals are marking the trenches by changing the paving material, color, and surface to reveal the area excavated to open the graves. And with plaques bearing the names of the victims who have been identified, as a way of telling a story, until now hidden beneath the common soil. The City Council is confident it can afford these works (although they are not yet providing a cost estimate), but they are unsure whether they will be carried out by the local maintenance crew or contracted out to an external company. Following the last excavation and exhumation campaign at Son Coletes in the spring of 2023, a total of 14 mass graves were unearthed and the remains of at least 131 victims were recovered, 14 of whom were women, including Aurora Picornell, the Rojas del Molinait, and the Rojas del Molinar Republican Alberto Bayo. In fact, it is striking that of the 20 women murdered during the repression, 14 were found in the Manacor mass graves.

Specifically, in the latest campaign, seven mass graves were located, in addition to those already documented in 2020 and 2021, and the remains of 45 victims were recovered. Three sides of the old cemetery were also documented. This third phase concluded the fieldwork at Son Coletes, where 1,318 square meters of land were excavated.

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"Not all the victims have been recovered, but all those who could be recovered have," explain sources from the City Council. "Son Coletes has become an essential site of remembrance." Therefore, the local administration intends to ensure this site is not forgotten. "Highlighting places like Son Coletes is a democratic duty. Much educational work is needed, and Son Coletes must serve as a platform for it," the City Council has stated on several occasions. From this point, many activities can be carried out, such as memorial routes. "We must speak with various local experts and specialists on the Civil War and the repression to define the strategy for what we will do next." For years, the City Council has also insisted that one of the most representative sites of repression in Mallorca must have an educational space, where institutions have a responsibility and a role in educating the public about what happened. "We must leave a dignified space to remember the victims." All of this with the ultimate goal of creating a memorial space.