James BryceBy James Bryce
A HARD-hitting BBC documentary will reveal that up to 300,000 babies were stolen from their mothers under the regime of General Franco.
The alarming numbers – nearly three times previously thought – were taken and given to families sympathetic to the regime.
Exposing the full extent of the so-called ‘Stolen Babies’ scandal, the BBC documentary, which airs tonight (Tuesday), will show how the Catholic Church perpetrated the crime, using a network of doctors, nurses and nuns.
Even more incredibly, the programme claims that the racket continued until the early 1990s, some 15 years after the dictator’s death.
This World: Spain’s Stolen Babies – shown on BBC2 this week – reveals how mothers were usually told that their offspring had died during childbirth.
They were prevented from seeing the corpse and were not allowed to attend the burial.
The infants had in fact been given away to adoptive parents, with official documents being forged to show their names on the child’s birth certificate.
Experts believe the cases may account for up to 15 per cent of the total adoptions that took place in Spain between 1960 and 1990.
Thousands of families are now demanding government action, with 900 cases already under review.
It comes after the Olive Press reported in July that a group of nuns are to go on trial following the exhumation of three graves from the cemetery in La Linea.
They are expected to face charges of forgery, kidnapping and illegal detention.
In another case brought by Isabel Aguera Vazquez, from Estepona, investigators found clear discrepancies between the cause of death listed by the hospital and the civil register.
A group of 70 families in Cadiz are also seeking answers about babies that supposedly died shortly after birth.
The documentary shows photographs taken in the Eighties of a dead baby kept in a freezer, allegedly to show grieving mothers.
In some cases, babies’ graves have been exhumed, revealing bones that belong to adults or animals while some of the graves contained nothing at all.
This would appear to support comments made by a cemetery worker in Granada who told the BBC he had handled child coffins that were ‘suspiciously light’.
Anadir, an 800-member strong support group, has created a DNA database to help reunite children with their birth parents.
Journalist Katya Adler, who investigated the scandal. said: “The situation is incredibly sad for thousands of people.
“There are men and women across Spain who lives have been turned upside-down by discovering the people they thought were their parents actually bought them for cash.”
However, despite the extent of the scandal, no nationally co-ordinated investigation has taken place.
“There is very little political will to get to the bottom of the situation,” Adler added.
Do you believe you may have been a victim, or know of anyone else affected? We want to hear from you. Contact [email protected]
I moved from England to Valencia, Spain in the 1980’s. A very close American friend of mine was pregnant with her third child – the first one to be born in Spain. The little girl was born full term with no complications, however the mother never got to see her child as she was instantly taken away. The mother was informed that the child had been dead for days within the her womb and was denied any access to the baby’s body. The nurse told her the baby had been incinerated and there would be no grave. My friend never believed that her little girl died and after reading all the recent articles about this case, neither do I.
proof positive that you can buy anything in spain, disgusting behaviour from a morally bankrupt church, with nuns whose morals are lower than a puta .
A heartbrekaing hour of TV. I was surprised the doctor involved has not had a family visit himself. I suppose it’s only a matter of time now of course…
The general thought to “forget about the past and let it rest” is the same block of concrete that is firmly chained to the leg of Spanish progress.
If Spain wants progress on this matter, they should set up a government led enquiry. To this day there is no official recognition that these events even happened. How can Spain ever progress until it recognises the problem?
Hate to agree with Fred, but its simple math, deal with your past if you want a future …..
The Spanish ostrich head in the sand policy is ignorant, unjust and immature, reminds me of Spanish society in all aspects of live …..
Apart from their Mama’s praise their ain’t much to show for really !
This news is bound to be true. When I was a child this was commented by my parents several times. Everybody knows here in Spain that it was a common practice in hospitals and all families expecting a newborn have had to pay attention to these possible issues to avoid similar cases. With the upcoming change in politics (to the right party) you cannot expect new actions from the next government on these issues
How disgusting,the “church”,for a few dollars, reveiles itself and expects to be respected.These sick-o’s should be held accountable,but they won’t.They(as we speak)as preparing to become infallible once again.The church should never have access to any child without proper supervision.The church considers children to be for priesthood sex,after that consideration the children are to be sold to strangers for “MONEY”…Shame,shame,shame….