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Salamanca Team Probes Unamuno’s 1936 Death, Citing ‘Elevated Indications of Criminality’

Researchers say forthcoming forensic work, including possible exhumation, could clarify whether foul play occurred.

Overview

  • A University of Salamanca-led team, joined by UPV/EHU scholars and Aranzadi’s forensic unit, has launched a multidisciplinary review with further steps expected in 2026.
  • Lead investigator Francisco Javier de Santiago reports elevated indications of criminality around the death but says there is no conclusive evidence of homicide.
  • Investigators are weighing an exhumation to enable laboratory testing, which would require authorization from Unamuno’s descendants.
  • The team is applying psycholinguistic, grafological, and testimonial analysis, and a PCL-R screening found the sole on-scene witness, Bartolomé Aragón, did not fit a textbook psychopath profile.
  • Researchers highlight irregularities from 1936, including the absence of an autopsy despite a bulbar lesion being cited and a rapid, Falange-controlled burial, as well as Aragón’s multiple conflicting accounts.