De estos cueros sacaré buenos látigos : tecnologías de represión en el destacamento penal franquista de Bustarviejo (Madrid)

In this article we present the results of the first archaeological excavation carried out in the forced labor camp of Bustarviejo (Madrid). This camp was established under the Franco regime in order to build a section of the Madrid-Burgos direct railway between 1944 and 1952. The intervention intended at the same time to explore the model of Francoist repression known as “system of reduction of sentences through work” by examining its materiality, and to engage the public in the research, by conducting the excavation as a public forum. Visitors where allowed to participate in the research, so that they could understand life in the labour camp and the structural logic of the repressive model.