The RAILWAY 1936: Archaeology on the Railway project began today. Directed by archaeologist Xurxo Ayán, has as its main objective the location of the grave and exhumation of railway worker António Ribeiro, assassinated by the Franco regime in 1936 in Castrelo do Val (Galicia).

It is not known from which Portuguese region he came, but António Ribeiro arrived in Spain, like many other Portuguese workers, to work in the construction of the railways underway in Galicia. He was affiliated to the Sindicato de Oficios Varios of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo of Campobecerros, was a collaborator of Solidaridad Obrera and a militant of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica of A Coruña. After the Franco coup d’état, the insurgents started a fierce repression in the area where the railways were being built, repressing anti-fascist workers. António Ribeiro was killed in one of these operations, on 20 August 1936, and sentenced in absentia, on 27 November of the same year, for having taken part in the resistance to the coup. His tomb is predicted to be located in the Comunidad de Montes de Portocamba.

It is thus in this locality that the multidisciplinary team brought together by Xurxo Ayán will focus its work this week, with a full coverage survey, magnetic and metal detector surveys, and the opening of manual probes in places where material remains or signs of land removal are detected. Overall, the project also foresees activities of heritage socialization and promotion of historical memory in Campobecerros and Castrelo do Val during the archaeological works, as well as the collection of oral memories regarding the labour and political activity of the workers who built the railway line in that historical period. In addition, the team will organise a lecture cycle, an open day to divulge the provisional results, and Xosé Lois Santiago will direct a documentary.

The origin of this project goes back to the ceremonies commemorating the Portuguese village of Cambedo da Raia — where, in December 1946, the Portuguese army and the Spanish Guardia Civil defeated a group of Galician anti-Franco warriors. In December 2021, Xurxo Ayán and Paula Godinho coordinated this commemoration, which culminated with a visit to Castrelo do Val, where the local population had erected a monument to the Portuguese workers murdered in Campobecerros by Phalangists in the summer of 1936. On that occasion, the Municipality of Castrelo do Val showed interest in attempting the exhumation of the assassinated railway workers. After several meetings and field visits to Campobecerros, Xurxo Ayán presented the project to the Municipality of Castrelo do Val, which agreed to finance it, together with the IHC. It includes researchers from Portuguese and Spanish universities, with extensive experience in exhumations, both in Spain and in other international contexts.

The project team is composed by Xurxo Ayán (IHC — NOVA FCSH), Carlos Otero Vilariño (INCIPIT — CSIC), Luis Antonio Ruiz Casero (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), David Casado Neira (University of Vigo), Mario Bueno Aguado (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), Sonia García Rodríguez (INCIPIT — CSIC), Márcia Lika Hattori (University of Minho / INCIPIT — CSIC), Candela Martínez Barrio (Cabildo de Gran Canaria) e Manuel Leiras Camino (University of Santiago de Compostela).

Picture: Monument to the railway workers victims of fascicm in Campobecerros-Portocamba (Castrelo do Val, Galicia) (Credit: Xurxo Ayán)