Family sign special powers to send Rafael Altamira and Pilar Redondo back to El Campello from Mexico. This represents another step forward in the lengthy and challenging administrative process required to recover the burial rights of the deceased. The distinguished Alicante scholar and his wife will be moved from the Mexico City cemetery to the El Campello cemetery, where they will rest beside their parents and their father-in-law.
Additionally, the writer’s family granted special powers before a notary to manage these cases, in accordance with the rules arising from the Hague provisions. These powers authorize a private funeral home to handle exhumation, cremation, and the transfer of the remains to Spain. The Mexican mandates were signed by Rafael and Pilar’s closest surviving relative, their eldest grandson, Maria Luz Altamira Garcia-Tapia, as reported by the Campello City Council this Friday.
El Campello seeks help from Diputación, Generalitat and central government to repatriate Rafael Altamira’s remains
From here on, the Embassy of Spain in Mexico aligns with the efforts of the El Campello City Council and its mayor, Juanjo Berenguer, to activate procedures that will speed up the transfer, supported by all political parties.
Raphael Altamira
In addition to the City Council, the administration and costs will be borne by the municipality, with support from the Provincial Council of Alicante and the Generalitat Valenciana.
This initiative followed a February action in El Campello in which the Generalitat President Ximo Puig and the Valencian Cultural Council expressed backing for the repatriation of Rafael Altamira, a prominent Alicante-born jurist who served as a key figure in the history of Spain. He was a pioneer associated with the International Court today known as the Hague Tribunal, and he was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. Altamira also held honorary doctorates from universities in Bordeaux, Paris, Mexico, Santiago de Chile, Lima, Columbia, and Cambridge.
The Altamira family agreed a year ago to support what was anticipated to be a long and complex process to bring his remains home. Altamira is a well known figure who, in a 1935 interview with the newspaper El Dia, spoke of retreating to the place he loved most, Campello, once his official duties ended. This sentiment influenced the family’s commitment to fulfilling his stated wishes in the present effort.