On the failed search for Federico García Lorca

For those of us that have been following the case of "Lorca's grave," the news today that the Spanish poet's burial site has turned up NOTHING is quite disappointing, though it should not be entirely unexpected. For years, Lorca's biographer, Ian Gibson, has insisted -- along with others -- that the site contained Lorca's remains, and the sign officially marking the location ("Lorca eran todos") drew many visitors each year. Gibson first learned of the grave's purported location from a man known as "Manuel el comunista," who claimed to have buried the poet here. Today, it would appear that that testimony has proven faulty.

Certainly, I can understand and respect, particularly on a scholarly level, Gibson's passion for locating the poet's remains. After all, Gibson has dedicated his life's work to Lorca. However, I am unsure what locating Lorca would mean, particularly because the poet's family has, up until recently, opposed excavation of the site. Would finding Lorca mean, simply, giving the poet a symbolic, dignified re-burial? Would it mean re-writing what we know about his final days? Would the so-called "Lorca case" serve to illustrate the challenges faced by forensic anthropologists and archaeologists in other locations throughout Spain? Would it shed light on victims' families, and the bureaucratic nightmare many of them face when trying to locate, exhume and identify their loved ones?

I am a lover of Lorca's poetry and drama, as well as his essays on "duende" and flamenco. But my interest in this case has to do with the following points:

• the evolution of a "site of memory"
• tourism and sites of memory
  
• the intersection of personal and collective memory
• Lorca as a representative "victim" of the Spanish Civil War (and especially, an icon of the left)
• the contested excavation site and the media portrayal of the case
  
• the other, less visible men purportedly buried with Lorca
  

From: BBC News

Spanish dig fails to find Lorca

Excavations aimed at finding the remains of Spanish poet and dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca have drawn a blank, officials say.

The dig produced "not one bone, item of clothing or bullet shell", said Begona Alvarez, justice minister of Andalucia.

Lorca was murdered at the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 by right-wing supporters of Gen Francisco Franco.

The site on a hillside outside Granada was believed for decades to be a mass grave of civil war victims.

Correspondents say the failure casts doubt on whether the poet's remains will ever be found.

The two-month excavation near the town of Alfacar - carried out under tight security - had been requested by relatives of other men believed buried at the spot.

It was one of several aimed at locating those still missing from Spain's bitter civil war.

"No remains of human bones have appeared or other signs belonging to civil war graves," a report by archaeologists at the University of Granada said.

Ms Alvarez said the soil was only 40cm (16in) deep, making it too shallow for a grave.

Lorca was 38 when he died, murdered by fascists for his left-wing views, Republican sympathies and homosexuality.

He is best known for tragedies such as Blood Wedding and his poetry collections Poet in New York and Gypsy Ballads.

For a much more detailed report in Spanish, click here.