Podcast Summary

Podcast: Todo Concostrina

Episode: “Acontece que no es poco | Volatilizado José Antonio: ni ausente ni presente”
Host: Nieves Concostrina (with Carla as co-host)
Date: May 10, 2023
Duration (content): ~14 min

Overview of the Episode’s Main Theme

This episode delves into the posthumous story of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Falange, focusing on the inconsistencies, myths, and farcical aspects surrounding the multiple exhumations and relocations of his supposed remains. With her characteristic irreverent humor and sharply critical tone, Nieves Concostrina exposes the historical mess, hypocrisy, and propaganda orchestrated by the Franco regime and the Spanish far right around José Antonio's corpse—or lack thereof.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Recent Exhumation and the Historic Farce

• The conversation starts by recalling the recent media uproar caused by the latest exhumation and transfer of José Antonio's remains.
• Nieves underscores that what’s rarely discussed is: there’s serious doubt whether the remains moved around all these decades are truly José Antonio's.
• Quote (Nieves, 01:20):
  “Lo mismo eso ni es lo mismo ni es José Antonio, eso no se sabe lo que es. Que le llamáis el ausente. Con toda la razón, que ni está ni se le espera. Se volatilizó, José Antonio se volatilizó.”

2. Origins: Execution and Burial (1936)

• José Antonio was executed in Alicante in 1936 and, like other executed prisoners, thrown into a mass grave without a coffin alongside several others—including a Black homeless man, “el negro Yoma.”
• Concostrina points out:
  • Mass graves were quickly layered using caustic lime to hasten decomposition and contain odors.
  • Virtually impossible to retrieve an identifiable body two years later.
• Quote (Nieves, 04:08):
  “Lo enterraron como a todos los fusilados, en fosa común y sin féretro. Y con otros cuatro hombres que fusilaron a la vez que a él. Más el negro Yoma [...] y lo que se solía hacer era arrojar los cadáveres y echar capas de cal.”

3. Franco’s Propaganda & the “Show” Around the Remains

• Franco had utilitarian motives: he needed a “martyr” for propaganda, regardless of whose remains were actually paraded.
• The process was hurried and devoid of forensic care. By the time of the first exhumation in 1939, only a jumble of unidentified remains could be extracted.
• Quote (Nieves, 06:40):
  “Franco no iba a renunciar a su propaganda porque de José Antonio sólo quedaran unas cenizas mezcladas con ni se sabe quién. [...] Franco necesitaba un muerto y de la fosa sacaron algo que podría ser o no José Antonio Primo de Rivera.”

4. Relics, Fake Remains & A Personal Anecdote

• Nieves shares a remarkable personal story (08:00–12:00):
  • She was contacted by antique dealers who obtained a small coffer, supposedly containing José Antonio’s ashes, accompanied by a detailed handwritten note describing its provenance.
  • The “relics” had been split and distributed between Falangist offices in Madrid and Alicante; the chain of custody is murky and more theatrical than scientific.
• Quote (Nieves reads the manuscript, 09:12):
  “Cenizas de José Antonio Primo de Ribera [...] se enterraron en la primavera de 1939 [...]. El farmacéutico don Agatángelo Soler López fue encargado de recoger y arreglar los restos [...] se obtuvo un pequeño montoncito, como dos o tres puñados de reliquias que se dispusieron en dos arquetas [...].”

5. Tracing the Names and Networks

• Nieves verifies the historic figures named in the manuscript:
  • Agatángelo Soler López, a pharmacist and Falangist, later mayor of Alicante, who supposedly gathered the ashes.
  • Links drawn between old Falange figures and later conservative politicians, underscoring the political lineage.
• She notes the absence of serious forensic protocol and ridicules the ritualistic far-right processions as empty pageantry.
• Quote (Nieves, 13:06):
  “Fue para mí, desde mi punto de vista, una payasada fascista el traslado de Alicante al Escorial. Otra bufonada el traslado del Escorial a Cuelgamuros. Y lo último ya ha sido una mojiganga con los disfrazados estos del brazo en alto.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the entire farce (01:20–02:29):
  “Se volatilizó. Ni fue de la tumba al nicho, ni de Alicante al Escorial, ni del Escorial a Cuelgamuros, ni de Cuelgamuros al otro cementerio de los curas.”
• The sardonically poetic close (02:29):
  “La ultraderecha es una familia desestructurada. Les pasa como a los Borbones, los pobres.”
• On the “Negro Yoma” rumor (02:31):
  “Dicen que se lo llevaron a él en vez de José Antonio. [...] Pero lo más probable [...] es que aquí nadie tiene ni idea de a quién ni a cuántos han estado paseando. Un puñado de polvo sin identificar lo primero que pillaron.”
• Personal experience with the “relics” (08:00):
  “Yo les contesté que muchas gracias [...] pero que yo no tenía tratos con falangistas que quisieran comprar muertos, y mucho menos ese amasijo de cenizas.”
• End summary and tone (13:06–13:58):
  “Ha sido una mojiganga con los disfrazados estos del brazo en alto, patapín, pam, pum, Ala boyo.”

Key Timestamps For Reference

• 00:35–01:20: Setup—discussion of recent exhumation & public spectacle.
• 01:20–03:58: Nieves sets the context, describing myths and possible scenarios behind José Antonio’s supposed remains.
• 04:08–06:36: Details on 1936 execution, original burial, and the impossibility of genuine identification in later exhumations.
• 06:36–08:37: Franco’s propaganda needs and the “anything goes” approach to remains.
• 08:37–12:30: Nieves’s personal anecdote—antique dealers, the “relics,” reading the manuscript, and verifying historical names.
• 12:30–13:58: Wry connections to contemporary politics and summary judgment.
• Ads begin at ~14:42 (not summarized).

Tone and Style Notes

• Language: Candid, witty, irreverent, and often sardonic, with frequent use of historical irony.
• Critique: Sharp toward Francoism, the Falange, and modern far-right ritualism.
• Delivery: Uses humor and sarcasm to question official versions of history and expose the absurdity of the “relic” tradition.

Conclusion

Nieves Concostrina’s episode is an incisive deconstruction of the myth surrounding José Antonio’s remains, spotlighting not only the farcical nature of Spanish political rituals but also the dangers and trivialities of historical manipulation. With her unmistakable voice, she blends sharp documentary research, personal narrative, and humor, ultimately inviting the audience to question, laugh, and remember that, in Spain’s recent history, sometimes there’s literally “nothing left.”