There had been Falangist allegations from the beginning that the picture was staged, but outside Spain the picture was believed to be a true documentary image until the 1970s. However, recent research suggests that the picture was staged. It was definitely not taken at the battle site of Cerro Muriano, but at Espejo, some thirty miles away. Doubt has also been cast on the identification of the photograph's subject: Federico Borrell García is known to have been killed at Cerro Muriano, shot while sheltered behind a tree, and he did not greatly resemble the subject of the photograph.