Spanish archaeologists dig up more civil war dead from mass graves

Manuel del Olmo, a member of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Valladolid (ARMH-Valladolid), takes part in the exhumation of a mass grave containing the remains of people killed by the late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's forces during the civil war, at El Carmen's cemetery in Valladolid, Spain, August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Juan Medina

MADRID (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Spain have unearthed more bodies from mass graves dating back to the 1936-1939 civil war and the ensuing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, including some still wearing rotting leather boots.

The digs in a local cemetery in Valladolid, central Spain, come amid renewed efforts by volunteer associations and victim campaign groups to shed a light on the bloody past and bring closure for relatives still searching for family members.