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Ghost hunting expats have plenty of Halloween choice in Spain
| Published: | 1 Nov at 6 PM |
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Tagged: Spain
Wherever there are Western expats, the spooky festival of Halloween is celebrated with enthusiasm and much laughter, but Brits in Spain may well experience the real deal.
Andalucía isn’t just a favourite haunt for British expat, it’s also Spain’s most haunted region. According to local legend, ghoulies, ghosts and long-legged beasties crowd various haunted buildings and eerie woodlands and don’t care who sees them. The proliferation of spooks may well be linked to Spain’s Roman Catholicism, but sleeping with the light on during Halloween is almost an annual ritual.
For serious ghost hunters, the dilapidated La Casa Encantada in Campanillas is a great starting point due to its horrific local history. Once the home of the incredibly wealthy Heradia family,the 19th century mansion is infamous in the region for its links with missing teenaged girls who were reputedly murdered after being kidnapped and tortured by the gruesome family. Tales of secret basement rooms and unexplained sounds including voices are commonplace in local villages and towns.
Another house containing unquiet spirits is located in Belmez de la Moraleda’s Jaen village. Proof that Spanish ghosts still existed as late as 1971 appeared to Maria Gomez Camara when she noticed a ghastly face appearing on her kitchen floor. Her husband and son pickaxed the floor to rubble and installed a new one, but the ghostly faces of men and women kept on appearing, growing larger and more threatening as time wore on. Many villagers believe the sightings were just a hoax, painted on the floor by the family, but believers still visit the house hoping to see for themselves.
Favourites for spook-hunters at Halloween are ghostly nuns, with Seville’s version enjoying the luxury of the Andalucian parliament building, formerly the Hospital of the Five Wounds run by the Order of Charity. More easily accessed is the long-dead guardian of Malaga’s English cemetery, often spotted wandering around the gravestones. The cemetery also has a reputation for voices, footsteps and touches by unseen hands. Mallorca’s 700-year old Bellver Castle is linked to the mysterious Templar Knights and has been used as a prison and a plague hospital – all in all the perfect setting for scary apparitions.
Andalucía isn’t just a favourite haunt for British expat, it’s also Spain’s most haunted region. According to local legend, ghoulies, ghosts and long-legged beasties crowd various haunted buildings and eerie woodlands and don’t care who sees them. The proliferation of spooks may well be linked to Spain’s Roman Catholicism, but sleeping with the light on during Halloween is almost an annual ritual.
For serious ghost hunters, the dilapidated La Casa Encantada in Campanillas is a great starting point due to its horrific local history. Once the home of the incredibly wealthy Heradia family,the 19th century mansion is infamous in the region for its links with missing teenaged girls who were reputedly murdered after being kidnapped and tortured by the gruesome family. Tales of secret basement rooms and unexplained sounds including voices are commonplace in local villages and towns.
Another house containing unquiet spirits is located in Belmez de la Moraleda’s Jaen village. Proof that Spanish ghosts still existed as late as 1971 appeared to Maria Gomez Camara when she noticed a ghastly face appearing on her kitchen floor. Her husband and son pickaxed the floor to rubble and installed a new one, but the ghostly faces of men and women kept on appearing, growing larger and more threatening as time wore on. Many villagers believe the sightings were just a hoax, painted on the floor by the family, but believers still visit the house hoping to see for themselves.
Favourites for spook-hunters at Halloween are ghostly nuns, with Seville’s version enjoying the luxury of the Andalucian parliament building, formerly the Hospital of the Five Wounds run by the Order of Charity. More easily accessed is the long-dead guardian of Malaga’s English cemetery, often spotted wandering around the gravestones. The cemetery also has a reputation for voices, footsteps and touches by unseen hands. Mallorca’s 700-year old Bellver Castle is linked to the mysterious Templar Knights and has been used as a prison and a plague hospital – all in all the perfect setting for scary apparitions.
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