Spain's Stolen Babies-2012 05 19 BBC Our World

Spain's Stolen Babies-2012 05 19 BBC Our World

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Spain is reeling from allegations that thousands of babies were taken from their mothers and trafficked.

Katya Adler investigates the impact of the stolen baby scandal through the eyes of the children and parents who were separated at birth.

Spanish society has been shaken by allegations of the theft and trafficking of thousands of babies by nuns, priests and doctors, which started under Franco and continued up to the 1990s.

How many? More than 900 cases are being investigated, but new cases are still coming to light - lawyers say the total could reach 300,000.

How long? Over a period of 40-50 years, beginning under Franco, up to the 1990s

Who benefited? Initially the Fascists by bringing up the children of their enemies - later children were taken from parents judged to be morally or economically deficient and placed with approved Catholic, often childless, families.

Why did it take so long to expose? The Church and medical profession are highly respected, and Spanish law does not require the biological mother's name on the birth certificate

The scale of the baby trafficking was unknown until this year, when two men - Antonio Barroso and Juan Luis Moreno, childhood friends from a seaside town near Barcelona - discovered that they had been bought from a nun. Their parents weren't their real parents, and their life had been built on a lie.

After months of requests from the BBC, the Spanish government finally put forward Angel Nunez from the justice ministry to talked about Spain's stolen children.


File: Our World Spains Stolen Babies.avi
Source:UKNova
Capp: The Eagle


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