The minister of Presidency, Coordination of Government Action and Local Cooperation, Antònia Maria Estarellas, has defended this Wednesday that the Govern "has not abandoned memory policies," despite the repeal of the law on democratic memory in the Balearic Islands, and has indicated that during this legislative term 24 bodies have been recovered from mass graves, of which 14 people have been identified.
During her appearance before the Commission on Institutional and General Affairs of the Parlament, convened to analyze the consequences of the repeal of the law on democratic memory, Estarellas emphasized that the criterion guiding the action of the Executive is "to put families at the center and guarantee the dignity of all victims, without distinctions." The minister clarified that the remains of 13 of the 14 identified people have already been delivered to their relatives.
In her appearance, she recalled that the fifth plan for mass graves is under way, endowed with more than 841,000 euros, which contemplates carrying out 12 excavations in different points of the archipelago and sets as the execution deadline 18 August 2027.
The head of Presidency likewise underscored the strengthening of psychological support for families, which has gone from having a single professional to having a team of two specialized psychologists linked to the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. These specialists have worked in Mallorca, Eivissa and Formentera and have also traveled outside the islands to accompany relatives at the acts for the delivery of remains.
"For the first time during this legislative term bodies have been identified in Eivissa; now Menorca is pending for us," Estarellas said, highlighting this territorial advance in the tasks of locating and identifying.
Among the highlighted actions, the minister mentioned the inauguration of the Columbario de Palma, where the remains of 225 people rest. Of them, ten have already been identified and their remains delivered to their families, while the rest continue to be kept in this space.
Estarellas also highlighted the establishment of a specific burial space in the old cemetery of Eivissa, an open chapel that was inaugurated on 23 July, where the remains of Bartolomé Costa are located alongside other bodies still unidentified.
In the field of symbolic recognition, it has detailed the placement of 50 memory stones in different municipalities such as Felanitx, Artà, Alaró, Porreres, Inca, Muro, Marratxí, Alcúdia, Esporles, Pollença, Manacor, Formentera, in the Islands, and Santa Coloma de Farners, in Catalunya. It has also reported that 200 memory paving stones have been commissioned from a German foundation to continue with these tribute initiatives.
To conclude, the minister has emphasized that the Government "has listened to the memorialist entities, has invited them to participate, and has kept active the communication and information channel within the framework of the commission of the memory law," insisting that dialogue with these groups remains open.