Body of Dal¨ª to be exhumed barring success of foundation¡¯s legal appeal

If the appeal is dismissed, the Surrealist master¡¯s remains will be taken out of their resting place in Figueres, under the dome of the Dal¨ª Theater-Museum, where they have been for nearly 30 years.

The case began when a woman named Pilar Abel Mart¨ªnez, a resident of Girona, began legal proceedings to prove that she is the daughter of the famous painter. A trial is set for September 18 in Madrid, but before that, the judge has asked for a DNA sample from Dal¨ª.

Lawyers for the Dal¨ª foundation filed an appeal, asking for alternative measures to opening the painter¡¯s grave.

This is an essential step for me; I need for the truth to come out

Pilar Abel Mart¨ªnez

¡°We do not oppose paternity tests, but there are other options for extracting genetic material that fall short of exhumation,¡± a foundation spokesperson told EL PA?S.

This center has proposed collecting a sample from the claimant¡¯s brother, on the basis that if both siblings share the same genetics, then they both have the same mother and father, and thus Pilar Abel Mart¨ªnez is not related to Dal¨ª.

On Tuesday, Abel Mart¨ªnez traveled to Madrid¡¯s official forensics center, the Instituto Anat¨®mico Forense, where saliva samples were taken. Outside the building, she told reporters that she was very happy.

¡°This is an essential step for me; I need for the truth to come out,¡± she said.

But her lawyer, Enrique Bl¨¢nquez, said that they would oppose getting Pilar¡¯s brother involved because ¡°it would not be conclusive and would simply prolong a process that¡¯s been dragging on for more than two years.¡±

This is, in fact, not the first time that the same courthouse has ordered the exhumation of Dal¨ª¡¯s body. The first time was on December 21, 2016, according to the Catalan daily El punt-Avui. An appeal by the Gala-Salvador Dal¨ª Foundation effectively halted the process.

We do not oppose paternity tests, but there are other options for extracting genetic material

Dal¨ª foundation spokesperson

Pilar Abel Mart¨ªnez, who was herself born in Figueres in 1956, has been publicly claiming to be the famous painter¡¯s daughter since 2007. She says that her mother, a native of Pineda de Mar (Barcelona), told her that she had a secret affair with Dal¨ª in Port-Lligat (Cadaqu¨¦s), where she was working for a family that spent part of the year there.

In 1955 she left her job and returned to her home town of Castell¨® d¡¯Emp¨²ries, where she got married. A few months later, Pilar was born.

According to the latter, the first time she heard that she was Dal¨ª¡¯s daughter was from her own paternal grandmother, who repeatedly told her: ¡°I know you are not my son¡¯s daughter, but the daughter of a great painter, but I love you all the same.¡± Her grandmother always accused her of being ¡°odd, just like your father¡± ¨C a reference to Salvador Dal¨ª.

This is not the first time that Abel has been involved in lawsuits concerning Spanish celebrities. After working for eight years as a fortune teller on a local television show in Girona, in 2005 she sued the writer Javier Cercas, claiming that she felt insulted after seeing herself portrayed in the character of a fortune teller named Conchi in his acclaimed novel Soldiers of Salamis. She asked for €600,000 in damages but the case was dismissed in early 2006.

English version by Susana Urra.