Experts to search for Lorca's grave

Archaeologists will start inspecting land in southern Spain where radical poet Federico Garcia Lorca is believed to have been executed and buried in 1936.

Lorca, one of Spain's most renowned 20th-century poets, was among tens of thousands of civilians killed by militias loyal to late dictator General Francisco Franco at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

The search for his grave remains one of the greatest mysteries of the 1936-1939 war, which was started when Franco rose up against Spain's elected leftist Republican government. 

Luis Naranjo, an official with the southern regional government of Andalusia, said that the project is aimed at discovering the remains of Civil War victims, not specifically those of Lorca.

Lorca is best known for tragedies such as 'Blood Wedding' and his poetry collections 'Poet in New York and 'Gypsy Ballads.'  His work draws on universal themes like love, death, passion, cruelty and injustice.  An earlier high-profile dig for his grave, which took place over two months in 2009, yielded no results.

At the time, the poet's family initially opposed the dig, saying that they preferred to let the remains lie in peace.