Jaen, Spain - A Spanish civil war mass grave believed to contain the bones of poet Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) will be opened, but without necessarily releasing information on his remains, regional officials said Monday. Spain's most beloved modern poet was shot dead by the right-wing supporters of dictator-to-be Francisco Franco at the start of Spain's 1936-39 civil war.
Many of Lorca's admirers are shocked that his alleged remains lie in an unmarked mass grave in Viznar near Granada, bt his family has opposed reopening the grave, arguing that it would set him apart from other civil war victims.
The grave also contains the remains of several other people some of whose families want them to be identified and given new burials, while others do not.
The grave will be reopened probably in October, but DNA tests will be carried out only on the bones of those whose families request it, regional justice official Begona Alvarez said.
Controversy has long raged in Spain over the bones of Lorca, whose main works include Gypsy Ballads and The Poet in New York.
