The authorities say they are duty bound to investigate the strange case of alleged “disappearing” babies from defunct Tenerife hospitals.

They believe there is no foundation in 42 official complaints concerning the years between 1950 and 1990. One case has already been dismissed and the courts feel it is very likely that the same will happen to the 41 others.

The claims have been generated by the theft and disappearance of babies in Spain during the Franco dictatorship and the early years of democracy and have therefore led to the spotlight being turned on Tenerife. 

Spanish newspapers say there are concerns that a child trafficking ring may have operated in a former clinic run by nuns in Santa Cruz. Papers are said to suggest changes of identity and the disappearance of babies supposedly abandoned by their parents.

The courts have asked for documents relating to the old Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados which closed in 1971.

The first and only case so far investigated in Tenerife, according to La Opinión de Tenerife, concerned a woman who claimed she had found a lost daughter in Güímar. DNA tests proved this was not the case and her claim has been dismissed.

Two campaign groups, including No Identity, have asked for the other 41 complaints to be investigated, even if they are purely based on suspicions. There have been cases in Spain where young mothers were told their babies had died but they were really given up for illegal adoptions. At national level, there are 300 cases waiting to be investigated.

The campaign groups say they are grateful that the Canary Island prosecutor is at least giving due diligence to the cases, even if suspicions are unfounded, unlike in Spain where claims remain on the files.