Public information regarding the search for victims in the León cemetery

The Regional Government of Castilla y León (Junta de Castilla y León) has opened for public consultation the request for authorization for activities to locate victims of the Civil War and the dictatorship in the Municipal Cemetery of León, processed under file number MHD-2026-16. The announcement, signed by the Directorate of Institutional Relations and External Action of the Ministry of the Presidency, is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León (BOCYL) number 208, dated October 27, 2026, and opens a period of twenty business days for the submission of allegations.

The processing is based on Article 18.4 of Law 20/2022, of October 19, on Democratic Memory, which requires that authorizations for activities to locate victims be submitted for public consultation. The body that agreed to the publicity of the file is the Directorate of Institutional Relations and External Action, under the Ministry of the Presidency, and the announcement appears signed in Valladolid on October 16, 2026, by its director, Ruth Andérez Alonso.

The file affects the municipality of León, and its specific scope is detailed in the announcement itself:

• Municipality: León.
• Locality: León.
• Site: Municipal Cemetery.
• Coordinates: latitude 42º 34’ 14.7’’ N.
• Applicant: ARMH de León, with CIF G82871666.

Twenty business days and where to submit allegations

The public consultation period is twenty business days starting from the day following the publication of the announcement, that is, from October 28, 2026. During this period, the file may be consulted and allegations may be submitted at the offices identified in the announcement:

• Body: Directorate of Institutional Relations and External Action, Ministry of the Presidency.
• Address: calle Santiago Alba, Valladolid.
• Hours: from 9:00 to 11:00 hours throughout the public consultation period.
• Telephone: 983 411 100, extension 800283.
• Email: memoriahistorica@jcyl.es.

The publication directly affects families searching for missing persons in the Leonese capital, historical memory associations, and the León City Council as the owner of the cemetery grounds where the location efforts are proposed.

A dozen democratic memory files this autumn

The opening of the Leonese file adds to a series of authorizations to locate victims processed by the same general directorate in recent weeks, all with an identical public consultation procedure:

• MHD-2026-10, in Montealegre de Campos (Valladolid), published in BOCYL number 171, dated September 3, 2026.
• MHD-2026-11, in Villafranca del Bierzo (León), in BOCYL number 191, dated October 1, 2026.
• MHD-2026-12, in Páramo del Sil (León), in the same number 191.
• MHD-2026-13, in Cubillos del Sil (León), with actions in the town of Fresnedo and the area of Las Corradinas, requested by the Asociación Semillas de Memoria (G123715586).
• MHD-2026-15, in Trabadelo (León), published in BOCYL number 195, dated October 7, 2026.

The number assigned to the case in the capital, MHD-2026-16, places it as the most recent of the series published to date in the regional bulletin.

The legal framework for the location of victims

Law 20/2022 regulates the actions for the location and identification of persons disappeared during the Civil War and the dictatorship, and requires that authorization requests undergo a public information process to allow for the intervention of family members, memorialist entities, and affected administrations. In the case of municipal facilities, the intervention of the city council is decisive, as the Municipal Cemetery is the proposed site for the surveys.

The announcement does not detail the estimated number of victims nor the area to be explored, details which must be included in the file that can be consulted at the headquarters of the general directorate in Valladolid.

The resolution of file MHD-2026-16 will decide whether the intervention in the Leonese cemetery is authorized, an essential preliminary step for any subsequent exhumation. The procedure now opens the way for families and memorialist groups to submit documentation, oppose, or support the action before the Ministry of the Presidency resolves.

Source: Official Gazette of Castile and León, no. 208, dated October 27, 2026, section I.E (Announcements), pp. 194-195 (official reference: BOCYL-D-27102026-208-21).