Morir como queramos. Derecho al duelo y justicia funeraria

This activity forms part of the project Tanatorios, cementerios y espectros. Culturas del duelo al sur de Madrid, by researcher and curator Inés Plasencia. This project was selected as part of the Intermediae Distribuido programme, and addresses various facets of the experience of death and mourning, such as funerary justice and sovereignty, urban transformations, artistic creation and the memory of funerary spaces.

This session is preceded by the workshop Morir como queramos with artist Elena Sanmartín, focused on creating a document of “last wishes” based on our own desires, in order to reflect on what we would like our loved ones to do or continue once we are no longer here.

The medium-length film ¿Descansa en paz? (Lúa López Ribes, 2026) follows the work of the Entierro Digno association, which advocates for the right of Muslim citizens in Spain to be buried in accordance with Islamic tradition. This means, in addition to a curtailment of human rights, a significant additional difficulty at the outset of the mourning process following the loss of a loved one.

Following the screening, there will be a discussion and conversation with the film’s director, Lúa López Ribes, with Entierro Digno and with the project’s curator, Inés Plasencia, as well as with other figures involved in promoting and advocating for the right to mourn and to funerary justice.

Screening:

¿DESCANSA EN PAZ? (Lúa López Ribes, Spain, 2026, 29')

There are over two million Muslims living in Spain, but in many cities there are still no burial grounds that respect their funeral rites.

Through a journey across various cemeteries in the country, ¿Descansa en paz? explores a largely unseen reality: the difficulty many families face in saying goodbye to their loved ones in accordance with their faith. Between regulations, red tape and a lack of institutional planning, the grieving process often becomes a race against time.

The documentary brings together the voices of communities, institutional representatives and funeral professionals to show how this issue cuts across the spiritual, the social and the political.

Beyond being merely an administrative issue, the film raises a fundamental question: what does it truly mean to belong to a place if not even death guarantees equality?