RTVE accesses the crypts of Cuelgamuros for the first time to show its forensic work in a documentary

RTVE has managed to access for the first time with cameras the interior of the crypts of Cuelgamuros, a space that has remained closed for almost six decades and where the remains of more than 33,800 victims of the Civil War are located. The access, unprecedented until now for a television, is part of the documentary Cuelgamuros: between the difficult and the impossible, which delves into the forensic work currently being carried out inside.

The crypts of the former Valley of the Fallen house the remains of thousands of people transferred from different parts of Spain starting in 1959. Among them, around 12,000 remain unidentified. Until now, the only known images of the interior practically corresponded to black and white photographs taken that same year by the EFE Agency, so the RTVE filming allows showing for the first time how this space currently looks.

The team also had to face a complex technical challenge due to the reduced dimensions of the rooms, the absence of natural light, and humidity that can reach 90%. The conditions forced extreme protection measures and even the use of small cameras installed on the ceiling to record the work of the specialists without interfering with their tasks.

The documentary accompanies the forensic teams that have been working since 2023 to locate and identify 214 victims among the remains deposited in Cuelgamuros. The investigation is carried out in the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, where more than 18,000 victims are concentrated, and allows following both the difficulties of the process and the findings that have opened new avenues to return names and identities to some of them.

With a script by Belén Alonso and direction by Manuel Diéguez, Cuelgamuros: between the difficult and the impossible will premiere on September 22 at the San Sebastián Festival and will later arrive on RTVE. The production is part of DocumentaRTVE and combines journalistic investigation with material from the corporation's historical archive to bring viewers closer to a space that was previously practically inaccessible.