On 14 September 2026, the second vice-president of the regional government and minister responsible, Ana Ollo, in the Espacio de Memoria y Convivencia in the Palacio de Rozalejo in Pamplona the mortal remains of Jesús Esteban Muñoz and Gerardo Gómez Lorenzo to their families. Both men were killed in 1938 in connection with the repression during the Civil War.
The remains were recovered during excavations at two mass graves: in Urtasun in 2017 and in Leranotz in 2018. Identification was carried out by comparing them with samples from the DNA Bank of the Gobierno de Navarra. According to the authorities, family members were also given forensic reports on the findings and the identification process. The identification process was supported by Instituto Navarro de la Memoria and the Institute of Legal Medicine of Navarra.
Both names are linked to the escape from Fuerte de San Cristóbal in 1938, during which numerous prisoners were killed. For years, the regional government has pointed to a publicly funded programme that enables exhumations, safeguards remains recovered anonymously and returns them to families after scientific examination. The return now completed is part of this ongoing work.
The handover venue is also a symbol of the institutional framework for remembrance work in Navarra: the Palacio de Rozalejo opened as the Espacio de Memoria y Convivencia at the end of August. The building brings together exhibitions, documentation, educational activities and the organisational support for exhumations, identifications and reburials. At the ceremony, Ollo stressed that supporting affected families and raising public awareness of the history of violence remained central responsibilities of the government.
Information on the exhumations, the identity of the victims and the role of the institutions involved is based on statements from the regional government and reports from Navarra. The current event—the personal handover of the identified remains—is the immediate occasion; the earlier excavations mentioned and the opening of the Palacio de Rozalejo provide the documented background.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).