Pablo de la Torriente Brau (1901-1936). Photo: Archivo/RHC.

Madrid, May 12 (RHC) Authorities in the Spanish region of Catalonia have ended the search in Barcelona's Montjuic cemetery for the remains of Cuban writer Pablo de la Torriente Brau (1901-1936).

According to several media, the technicians of the General Direction of Democratic Memory of the Catalan Government discarded the existence of a grave in the area of the mentioned cemetery, where last April 28th they began the excavation works.

After the end of these works, the archaeologists ruled out the existence of a mass grave in the place where, according to historical testimonies, the intellectual could have been buried along with 11 other people, informed Wednesday the Ministry of Justice of Catalonia.

The work began two weeks ago and excavated to the geological layer - the level prior to any human intervention - without finding remains, said in a statement the department.

The Ministry of Justice explained that it will not carry out a new drilling because, it emphasized, 'there is no other hypothesis about the place of burial' of the poet.

De la Torriente Brau fought with the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and died in combat in Majadahonda (Madrid), on December 19, 1936.

Initially buried in the Madrid cemetery of Chamartín, in June 1937 he was transferred to a niche in the cemetery of Montjuic, from where it was intended to ship him to Cuba.

However, the outcome of the Civil War prevented it and, in 1939, the remains of the revolutionary leader and journalist were thrown into a mass grave along with 11 other unidentified people, according to historical research.

An agreement signed in 2018 between the Catalan government, the Barcelona City Council and the Consulate General of Cuba in that region of northeastern Spain made it possible to reactivate the process to bring the remains of the prominent intellectual to his country, as was his and his family's wish.

The opening of the work of recovery and repatriation of the poet was attended by the Cuban Consul General in Barcelona, Alain Gonzalez, along with the Catalan Minister of Justice, Ester Capella, and the Barcelona City Councilman Marc Serra.

In his speech, Gonzalez praised the revolutionary trajectory of De la Torriente Brau, his anti-fascist struggle, his internationalism and his role in Cuba against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, which -underlined the diplomat- is part of the pillars of our nation.

The well-known intellectual and revolutionary was exiled from Cuba to New York in 1933 because of Machado's dictatorship.

He arrived in Spain as a war correspondent in 1936 and combined that work with his incorporation to the armed struggle as an international volunteer. (Source: Prensa Latina)

Taken from Radio Habana Cuba.Edited by Lorena Viñas Rodríguez
English version Hector Hdez.(Azurina staff)