A post currently circulating on social media claims that the Spanish government is secretly arranging the exhumation and transfer of remains from cemeteries on the Isla de Alhucemas, the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and his party Islas Chafarinas to Melilla. According to the Ejército de Tierra the narrative refers, however, to measures taken in 2021; no further action has been taken since then.
In 2021, the exhumations and transport involved the cemeteries on Isla de Alhucemas and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera. The destination was the cemetery of La Purísima Concepción in Melilla. The operation was announced on 9 July 2021 in the Boletín Oficial del Estado and subsequently put out to public tender via the Plataforma de Contratación The tender documents specified autumn and winter 2021 as the execution period, specifically from late October to late December.
No action was carried out on the Islas Chafarinas in 2021. The Ejército de Tierra cites the structural and physical conditions of the cemetery there as the reason, as they did not allow the transfer to proceed as planned. According to the Ministerio de Defensa the measure as a whole was intended to safeguard and better preserve the remains; it was administrative and logistical in nature and coordinated by military authorities.
The process is transparent, as shown by the official publications and tender records. The documented sequence of events therefore differs markedly from the claims now being circulated that this is a new, covert operation. Independent checks have confirmed the 2021 date on the basis of the notices and tenders. Detailed personal lists were not published, as is usual for measures of this kind.
Background: Isla de Alhucemas, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and Islas Chafarinas are Spanish territories off the North African coast. In this context, the Defence Ministry regards the transfers carried out in 2021 as a conservation measure. According to the Ejército de Tierra, there has been no new administrative act and no further work at the cemeteries concerned since then.
Assessment: The current news story is the rapid spread of a misleading post with no date attached. The documented notices in the Boletín Oficial del Estado and records from the Plataforma de Contratación refute the claim of a current, secret operation. Any claims about further steps would be speculative without new official statements.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).