Roberto Bustos Morales, born in Madrid in 1953, has managed to reunite three of the siblings he lost after going through an orphanage in Tarragona. The paradox of the case is that the reunion has come after a childhood marked by separation, unpaid work, and family dispersion across several points in Catalonia.
Family reunited after decades of separation in Tarragona, Barcelona and Lleida
Roberto was separated from his brothers José, Manolo and Gregorio after passing through the Casa de Sant Josep. At 10 or 11 years old, a priest took him from the center and handed him over to cattle ranchers from Viu de Llevata, in Alta Ribagorça, where he worked without pay until shortly before doing his military service.
Felisa Bustos had Roberto from an unknown father and later partnered with Andrés Muñoz Alcolea, with whom the rest of the siblings were born. Local historians from Socuéllamos, Javier Fresneda and Alfonso Montero, identified Andrés Muñoz Alcolea as the biological father of José, Manolo and Gregorio after reviewing the case documentation.
Angelita Muñoz, cousin of the brothers through her father, confirmed the kinship by recognizing her uncle Andrés's name in the published information.
Manuel Muñoz remembered the abandonment on the little train between Tortosa and Salou
Manuel Muñoz put in writing the starting point of the family separation.
"My mother left us on the little train, on that small train that went from Tortosa to Salou" - Manuel Muñoz
The same testimony later added the move to Tarragona and the impossibility of Andrés Muñoz Alcolea to take care of all the children.
"Then my father, Andrés, could not take care of the whole brood and put us in the care of some nuns, who in turn sent us to Tarragona" - Manuel Muñoz
With the passing of the years, Andrés Muñoz Alcolea mistreated the minors and forced them to beg through Barcelona and Gavà when they were between eight and nine years old. Manolo was handed over to a Cuban farmer who resided between Montblanc, El Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona, where he performed domestic and agricultural tasks.
Roberto Bustos Morales interprets the family reunion as "a kind of miracle" after decades of searching.
Manolo lives in Sant Jaume d'Enveja and José is in La Seu d'Urgell
Today, Manolo Muñoz resides in Sant Jaume d'Enveja, next to the Ebro Delta, and has had meetings with Roberto Bustos Morales in Castejón de Sos and in his town. José Muñoz lives in a care center in La Seu d'Urgell, where Roberto visits him periodically.
Gregorio Muñoz resides in Balaguer and maintains weekly contact via messages with Roberto Bustos Morales.
Manolo Muñoz also summarized the personal effect of having recovered the bond with his brother in this way.
"I was surprised to learn that I had a brother who was looking for me" - Manolo Muñoz
The same Manolo added an assessment of his life and the path he could have taken. "I've had a good life. I could have been a bastard, but I wasn't".
The meetings between Roberto Bustos Morales and Manolo in Castejón de Sos and Sant Jaume d'Enveja closed a family story that began with a separation in Tarragona and has left José in a care center in La Seu d'Urgell and Gregorio in Balaguer.