Remains of four Francoism victims exhumed from mass grave 

The Catalan Department of Justice and Democratic Quality has exhumed the remains of four victims of the Francoist repression buried in a mass grave outside the cemetery of Castellnou de Bages, a municipality north of Barcelona.   

The excavation recovered the bodies of three men and one woman, believed to have been shot in 1945 by the Spanish Civil Guard.  

The bodies supposedly are the ones of two anti-Franco guerrilla fighters, the so-called maquis, and the married couple who owned the farmhouse 'Creu del Perelló', which served as a refuge to the fighters.  

"It's an honor that our grandparents and great-grandparents can now be buried in a dignified place," said Daniel Puigoriol, the great-grandson of the couple, in an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN). The couple's family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, were present during the exhumation work.  

The names of the couple were Ramona Bessa and Domingo Rovira. Their farmhouse was located at a crossroads in Castellnou de Bages.  

"To the south, you can see Montserrat, and to the north, the Pyrenees, which probably made it an attractive place for the maquis because it was also a route to France or Barcelona," explained Daniel Puigoriol, their great-grandson and current owner of the left over ruins of the farmhouse.  

The action of exhuming remains is part of the Catalan government's effort to locate and identify people who disappeared during the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorship.  

Xavier Menéndez, Director General of Democratic Memory, explained that most of the graves excavated so far are linked to battlefronts or military hospitals from the Spanish Civil War. However, graves connected to the postwar repression of 'maquis' remain largely unaddressed.  

"When we have clear evidence and a strong likelihood of success, these are precisely the kinds of graves that should be prioritized," said Menéndez.  

This is only the fifth such intervention related to the maquis. "These were people who fought to restore democratic rights and freedoms in the aftermath of the war," Menéndez added.  

Findings and forensic clues 

The archaeological excavation took place just outside the Castellnou de Bages cemetery between May 21 and June 12, 2025, as part of Catalonia's 2023-2025 mass grave plan. Led by archeologist Marta Pujol, who has studied Franco-era graves in the region for years, the project was based on local witness testimony and prior research.  

The team uncovered the remains of four people: two young men, a young woman, and an older man. Some had gunshot wounds; others had severe fractures to the skull or lower limbs.  

According to Pujol, the two guerrillas were found anatomically intact positions, indicating they decomposed undisturbed. The two civilians were lying in front of them, their feet almost touching.  

An open question remains: was one of the victims, Ramona Bessa, pregnant at the time of her death? "We'll be closely examining the remains to see if any fetal bones are present," said Pujol.  

Several other belongings were also recovered from the site: a French coin, shirt buttons, a belt, an unused cartridge, earrings, and a ring.  

One local resident had recalled seeing a cart pulled by animals carrying blanked-wrapped bodies, and Pujol noted that some bones showed red stains that may indicate fabric remains, pending lab confirmation.  

The working hypothesis is that three of the remains belong to anti-Franco fighter Ramon Bosch Noguera and the couple who sheltered him.  

The fourth body, thought to be a fellow guerrilla, has yet to be identified. All remains have been sent to a laboratory for anthropological, genetic, and historical analysis.  

Reconstructing the 1945 events at Creu del Perelló 

Evidence suggests the victims died during a Civil Guard raid on the night of February 22–23, 1945, at the Creu del Perelló farmhouse.  

According to Pujol, about thirty Civil Guards arrived at 6 pm, hid near the house, and attacked around 10 pm. After shooting the maquis, they searched the house and then pursued the fleeing couple.  

"They shot each of them three times from behind. These weren't disabling shots to the legs, it was clearly an execution," Pujol said. 

The victims were buried just outside the cemetery, near the same location where the last Catalan maqui, Ramon Vila Capdevila, known as 'Caracremada' (which means 'burned face'), was interred in 1963. He was exhumed in 1999. Capdevila was also killed at Creu del Perelló, which was abandoned by then. 

Pujol noted that maquis were often buried outside consecrated ground, sometimes even face-down, as they were not considered "good Christians", a symbolic gesture meant to deny them peace in the afterlife, "If they woke up, they'd go straight to hell," Pujol explained.  

Earlier efforts and ongoing research 

On June 8, 1999, Caracremada's remains were exhumed by the Barcelona Provincial Council and reburied in the cemetery's wine vat.  

In 2022, the Directorate General for Democratic Memory tasked Marta Pujol with conducting a comprehensive study of Franco-era graves in Castellnou de Bages, with a special focus on victims of the 1945 repression.  

This latest intervention builds on that effort, seeking truth, recognition, and historical justice.