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The Poltergeist in Carrer Francisco Giner No. 43

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An entire building experienced what they thought to be the works of a poltergeist in 1935 in Carrer Francisco Giner No. 43 in Barcelona. For an entire week they endured the hauntings that no one, not even the authorities could explain. 

Have you ever heard about a house that is so haunted that it scares the living daylights out of the people who live there?  The houses were believed to be haunted by a ghost, or even possibly possessed by a poltergeist, which was seen and felt by many, even the police.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

One of the most famous haunted house stories in Barcelona, Spain was from 1935 when the residents of the building at No. 43 at Carrer Francisco Giner in Barcelona experienced what they thought had to be of the paranormal sorts. 

The building is in a classical Barcelona neighborhood with its narrow alleyways, red toned stone buildings and plants hanging out from the windows and small balconies. But one night the building reached headlines in all of Spain when something unexplainable happened. 

Many of those living in the building claimed they experienced what they thought was the works of a poltergeist-like thing that scared the residents with banging noises on the walls of the building. The furniture was reportedly flying in the air that lasted for days. It has since been known as the first documented poltergeist phenomenon in Catalonia. 

The Night a Poltergeist Came to the Building

On February 10th that year the Montroig i Mondoza family was sleeping soundly when they were awakened by loud bangs against the walls. The oldest son got out of bed to see what was happening. Suddenly the drawers of the cabinets started opening by themselves, flinging themselves violently to the floor. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories set in Haunted Houses from around the world.

Soon the whole neighborhood on Carrer Francisco Giner woke up to the loud banging noise and the entire building were suddenly witnesses to the strange happenings. They were frightened and called after help from the guards and the night watchman went out in search for the origin of the noise. He couldn’t find anything.

Suddenly the noises stopped and the neighbors went back to bed, confused but tired enough to fall peacefully asleep again, thinking that it was a one time thing they never had to go through again. 

A Series of Hauntings

But the next day it happened again and morning came. When people came back from work it was still going on. 

Mr. Montroig filed a complaint to the police when he came home from work, but when the police came to investigate the matter, they still couldn’t find the reason or the source of the noise. 

Police Investigation: The people in the building reported the strange things going on to the police, and they came to investigate. They soon had to give up as they never found the culprit, or the root of the matter.

The next evening the noise had disappeared and everyone thought that the sounds were over. But then it started again the following night, and according to the residents, and especially the Montroig family, it only got worse.
Inside of their apartment a chair started to levitate in the room. A lamp kept spinning and cutlery floated in the air while the hands of the clock sped up, going crazy.

Some residents of No.43 even claimed to have seen white shadows gliding in the corridors of the building and the temperature suddenly dropped. Not only this, but a violent hailstorm showered the building and the courtyard. 

The people living in the building at Carrer Francisco Giner couldn’t take the haunting any longer and fled the place. Both the police as well as the press came and witnessed what happened as the paranormal activity continued for a week. 

There really is no absolute resolution to this case. The entire Montroig family decided to leave the building and moved away. So did a lot of the other tenants living there. But not much has happened on this quiet street since. 

What Really Happened in Carrer Francisco Giner?

What happened that week no one really knows though and the speculations continue to this day. There is speculation that it was caused because of the teenage son in the Montroig family.  Joan Monroig was ill at the time, and some speculated that this was what attracted the poltergeist to the apartment building. 

What we do know is that spiritualism was a really popular topic at this time, and the people experiencing these strange things quickly concluded for themselves and to the press that it was indeed what was happening. Although we have to give them credit that something really did happen that week the entire building was kept awake by a potential poltergeist.

The police concluded with nothing. Many things that happened could in fact have been recreated by a living human being, like the flying chairs. But what they never managed to answer was the vibrating that seemed to run through the entire building seen by the windows. Even today, the case remains unsolved. 

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References:

Poltergeist al barri de Gràcia de Barcelona
El primer caso «Polstergeist» documentado en Barcelona
13 Barcelona Haunted Houses & Places that will creep you out
Haunted and Mysterious Places in Barcelona | 19 Local Legends

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The Haunted Town and Tragedy of Belchite

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One of the most famous haunted towns in Spain is definitely Belchite. During the Spanish Civil War the prospering town got caught up in the battles and were left in ruins and as a warning from Franco what happened to those opposed to his regime. Today, it is said that the villagers still haunt the ruins they once called home. 

Spain is home to many haunted places, including the abandoned town of Belchite. Located in the province of Zaragoza in Aragon, Belchite is a ghost town that has been left in ruins since the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

South of Zaragoza in Aragón is the former town of Belchite, a town that was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 in a big battle and all the 3000 people living in the village over a couple of weeks. After this, it was never rebuilt and no one returned to it. 

There is a huge metal cross on the main square in the old village that is a memorial to those who died in the civil war between the Spanish Republicans and General Franco’s fascist rebel forces, as no one wanted to move back to it after the war. 
Because of Belchite’s tragic past, the ghost town has left a dark reputation as one of Spain’s most haunted places. 

Franco’s Warning to Those who Opposed him

Belchite was once a prosperous town with a history dating back to the 12th century.It was built as a fortress commune for knights that were going to the holy crusades and saw its fair share of battles in the Peninsula War between Spain and France in 1809. But it was a civil war that would be the bloodiest. 

At the time there were around 4000 people living in the village, and those who were lucky managed to flee the place before all hell broke loose. 

The Giant Cross: There is not much left of the Belchite town today, and for memorial they have put up a giant iron cross to remember the souls that lost their lives.

But was destroyed and the ruins of the town were left as is by Franco because he wanted to use them as a warning of what would happen to the people if they didn’t do as he said. The Republicans were actually making their way to Zaragoza to hinder the nationalists progress in the north.

One stop on the Republicans’ way to Zaragoza was Belchite, which was caught in between the two forces. At the time the little town was under Nationalist control. 

The water supply was cut off and those trapped inside were starved to death in the scorching heat or killed in the battles that were going on in the hills. 

Eventually the battle came into the village as the bombs had layd most of it to ruins and the republican forces came in with tanks and the warfare turned into street fights. They went from house to house and in the final week of August and first week of September. 

Dozens of women and children tried to take refuge in the clock tower during the battles, but they lit the building on fire and smoked them all out. 

The bodies were so many and thrown into a pile in the town square. At one point during those two weeks, the pile of dead bodies was a storey high before they burnt them in a gasoline fueled fire day and night. 

The Town Left in Ruins: Only rubbles, ruins and ghosts are left in the town of Belchite after the battles during the Spanish Civil War.

The smell of the dead was so strong people had to wear gas masks, even if the heat was brutal.  Some of the villagers also ended up entombed as they were thrown down a trujal, which is an underground olive oil press. Their bodies are still there today, it is said. 

We don’t have an exact death toll over those who were killed during these two weeks as no one recorded it officially. However, eyewitnesses tell that as many as 5000, including the civilians, died. 

The battle led nowhere really, and the republicans goal to stop the nationalists progress in the north failed and only a trail of ruins and dead was to show for the plans. In 1938 the Nationalist retook the ruins of Belchite. The Village of Belchite is Left in Ruins

After the Civil War ended in victory for Franco and his fascist and nationalist followers in 1939, Franco then ordered the construction of a new town nearby instead to let Belchite sit in its ruins. He wanted it to remain as a monument of the war for propaganda reasons and to show the world what his opponents did to the country. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Haunted Towns and Cities all around the world.

The new village wasn’t completed until 1954 and was built mainly by Republican prisoners from the war. Those left in Belchite had to roam in the ruins under the bricks and beams were corpses of their loved ones and their homes completely destroyed. The Clock Tower is barely standing upright and the cathedral is littered in bullet holes. 

After the war Franco established a dictatorship that lasted until his death in 1975. Perhaps the village is today remembered more brutally under the fascist regime than what Franco intended. 

Ghost of the Civil War

The town is said to be haunted by the ghosts of those who died during the war and those who were forced to flee their homes. Now they wander among the ruins that are never going to be rebuilt.

Both the farmers that live close to the abandoned city as well as those brave enough to visit this eerie place have reported hearing strange noises and seeing mysterious figures lurking in its shadows.

There is not just one ghost haunting this place, but rather a cluster of them. People claim to have heard many calls in the empty streets, among other things they claim to have heard a call from a small child to its mother at dusk echoing faintly in the abandoned streets. 

The Haunted Church and Bell Tower

The church of San Agustin is badly damaged after those fateful days, but the ruins of it are still towering in the old village with its belltower. Before the civil war it was a gathering place for all in town, today it looms over the ruins with no one attending the church. Still, there are strange sounds coming from the belltower.

The Ringing Bell Tower: Belchite around 1900 before the battles when the town was whole, alive and untouched by the destructive civil war.

In the following years the town got a haunted reputation, especially the former church and school was said to be haunted by something paranormal. People claim to have heard the church bells ringing from the empty bell tower. Today the town is a memorial of the tragic past and is only accessible with a local guide. 

Ghost Hunters Seeking the Paranormal of Belchite

Until 2014, the ruins of Belchite were free for everyone to wander as they liked, but now the town is restricted to guided tours and is fenced off to try to keep the ruins as they were. 

People come to Belchite as tourists to try to learn about the history and what happened here, as well as people who used to live there and their relatives. The village also gets a couple of more odd visitors seeking something else. The abandoned town gets a lot of ghost hunters coming in with their equipment to try to get some of the supposed hauntings on tape. 

Belchite Today: Franco wanted the ruins of the town to be a warning, today it is used to show the destructive forces of war. Closed off by a fence, the town will continue to be abandoned and the only thing living there are its ghosts.

The place has even become a popular movie set for movies and commercials and parts of Pan’s Labyrinth were filmed there.
Today the Civil War is still a sensitive issue in Spain, where there are still people alive from the time. Politics is often still divided into left and right as it was then, although perhaps not so polar opposites, but the shadows and ghosts of Belchite remains as a reminder of just how destructive it can be. 

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References:

Visiting Spain’s Most Haunted Locations | Right Casa Estates

https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/inside-the-most-haunted-town-in-the-world-which-saw-tragedy-on-an-unimaginable-scale/news-story/5d5a768652d2d5526e7b1be33b178da3

Belchite – Wikipedia

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Tales from the Haunted Ship: Legends of the Queen Mary

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Want to explore haunted legends of the world’s most famous ship? Discover chilling ghost stories about strange and supernatural occurrences said to haunt the decks of The Queen Mary.

Step onboard the legendary RMS Queen Mary and discover the eerie tales of her ghostly visitors that are said to remain, decades after the ship sailed its last voyage on the sea. For decades, passengers and crew have reported sightings of paranormal activity, from strange lights and mysterious noises to full-bodied apparitions roaming the decks of the vessel.

History of The Queen Mary

Built in 1934 and christened by Queen Mary herself, the ship is now a permanent museum vessel in Long Beach, California. The Queen Mary has a rich history of dramatic events. Some based on facts and real events, some based on rumors, tales from the passengers and crew.  

As a luxury ship it transported many famous passengers, like Elizabeth Taylor, Jacky Kennedy and other rich and famous on first class. In second and third class, many more were making their way from America to Europe or the other way around. 

During World War II the vessel was nicknamed The Grey Ghost and the ship was used as a troopship to transport thousands of troops between Southampton and New York; many of whom are said to have died during the voyage. 

A Troop Ship: During the second world was, The Queen Mary was used to transport soldiers. Here from 1943 when it was about to anchor in Sidney with Australian troops.

She was together with the ship Queen Elizabeth the largest and fastest troop ships involved in the war and could carry as many as 15 000 men in a single voyage. Churchill himself remarked that Queen Mary had shortened the war by a year. 

After her stint as a warship, she had several reincarnations including being a job site for hundreds of workers since then, which could explain why so many mysterious occurrences have been reported onboard.

The Art Deco ship retired in 1967 as the market for passengers traveling by sea from New York, USA to Southampton, England declined rapidly as airplanes now could do the work in less time. 

A Number of Haunting Legends

Many of the legends about ghosts and unexplained happenings on the Queen Mary originate from stories told by crew members, passengers, and even those who worked on her in dry dock – however, their authenticity remains unknown. 

Read more about haunted ships around the world: Here

There is an infinite list of ghosts that are supposedly haunting the ship, with over 150 ghosts to this day and counting. Here are some of them:

Stateroom B-340

The hotel promotes the suite room B-340, that originally was a 3rd class cabin as being notoriously haunted, and there are many haunted attraction tours that take advantage of these ghost legends and will bring you on a tour. 

The ghost in one of the staterooms smelling of cigar and perfume is allegedly haunted by a person who was murdered there.

It is said to be the ghost of a British 3rd class passenger named Walter J. Adamson who passed away in the room and according to people staying in the room, he has been known to stand by their beds, sometimes pulling the bed covers off. 

The Mauretania Room

In this VIP lounge, in 1989 two women were sent to clean it. When they walked in they saw a passenger sitting on a chair on the dancefloor. The passenger didn’t say a word, but kept on staring. When a 3rd woman came in to clean, she asked the passenger to move, but the passenger didn’t budge. 

They were about to call for security when the passenger just vanished right before their eyes. 

The Crewman

A bearded crewman in blue overalls is often reported off, often accompanied by whistling. It is thought that it is an 18-year old crew member from Yorkshire that died in 1966. He was killed after he was crushed under a door during a fire drill. He is now haunting the doorway known as Shaft Alley where he died. 

The Lady in White

Some legends are hundreds of years old with reported sightings of a woman in white or a child running around the ship in little period attire. The lady in white is said to be a first-class passenger who is still dancing in the Salon of the ship in a long gown. 

The Engineer

In the old engine room it is said that one of the engineers died and came back to haunt the place. 

Boiler Room Number 4

Inside of this room people have reported about seeing a little girl running around. Sometimes she is sucking her thumb or holding a doll. 

The Haunted Pool

People have reported about wet footprints on the floor near the first class swimming pool that was once a luxury place with an illuminated fountain and pearl ceiling and mosaic tiles. 

One legend is of a little girl who is said to haunt the first and second class pools, but no deaths were recorded in either pool. There are also reports about a girl in a tennis skirt and a woman in an old wedding gown. 

The Murder Suicide

Another claim of a ghost haunting the ship is made by psychic Peter James when he visited The Queen Mary. He said that in 1959, a father murdered his wife and daughters and then killed himself in room B474 and the daughters haunt the room and surrounding corridors. But it is not really proven to happen on the ship but in Roanoke, Virginia in 1964. 

Chilling Accounts From Longtime Passengers & Crew Members

From passengers to crew members of the Queen Mary, chilling accounts of strange and supernatural occurrences are said to have haunted the decks of the famous ship. One such story was that of a former captain who experienced frequent nightmares about running in circles until suddenly appearing in front of a white figure located at the bridge. 

First Class: The Queen Mary was a luxury ship were many rich and famous chose to make their way on back and forth from America to Europe. Today it is mostly remembered as the worlds most haunted ship. //Source: wikimedia

Other occurrences range from changing room temperatures to hearing doors slam shut without warning while visitors board. Despite all these tales—the true origin of this haunted ship is yet to be discovered.

Many passengers have reported seeing lights dancing around certain decks on The Queen Mary as well as hearing voices whispering from empty hallways. Despite years of skeptics and non-believers, these eerie tales still resonate with many visitors on board this haunted vessel.

While many can relate to the eerie tales of supernatural occurrences onboard the Queen Mary, skeptics are quick to call these stories mere myth and legend. Despite this, one thing’s for certain: the stories of these chilling occurrences have captivated and stunned visitors for decades. Whether you choose to believe in them or not, one thing is clear – The haunted legends of The Queen Mary will never be forgotten.

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References

Featured Image: George John Edkins (1921-2001) Wikimedia

Is the Queen Mary Ship Really Haunted?

The Queen Mary: The Most Haunted Hotel in America

Meet The Unknown Immigrant Billionaire Betting Her Fortune To Take On Musk In Space?

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The Ghost of La Faraona Haunting the Agua Caliente Hotel

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Haunting the iconic Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel in Tijuana, the performer known as La Faraona remains like a ghost from the Golden Age of the Sin City.

During prohibition times in the US in the 1920s, people flocked to the borders to have a drink and a good time. The border towns also become a hot spot for smuggling activity and flourishing establishments that would quench peoples thirst. 

Tijuana was one of these border towns that saw a golden age and growth during this time. People came from the whole world to get a drink while gambling at their casino and watch horse racing and bullfighting. For the conservatives, Tijuana became known as a Sin City or was even called Satan’s Playground. 

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The demand for a good time was profitable however and attracted many people south of the border, and many resorts were established for this particular need. One of these places was Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel that opened in 1928. It was like the American Monte Carlo and Deauville that attracted American celebrities, Mexican politicians, diplomats, gangsters and gamblers alike during the 30s. This is the time that is remembered as Tijuana’s golden age. 

The hotel in Tijuana in Mexico in Baja California is said to be haunted now however, and the glamor it once held, is now under the layer of dust and only a footnote in history. It is now a high school and many of the reports of the haunting come from the students themselves. There are many stories, and especially about a woman walking past the student, whose feet don’t even touch the ground. The legend of this ghost has been called La Faraona.

The Dancing Ghost La Faraona

Agua Caliente is a place where performers had the chance of being discovered and making it big. Rita Hayworth was one of those while she was playing a show at the hotel. She went on to be a famous Hollywood star and a cultural icon. But there was not every performer that managed to get out of Tijuana. 

Satan’s Playground: The Agua Caliente was a famous tourist spot for a weekend away. It was also a place were many performers were employed and made famous. On the other end it was a place were many illegal activities took place. // Photo: Guy Sensor Landscape Photo, courtesy of San Diego History Center Photo Archive.

It is said that a female performer haunts the former hotel that was built atop of a natural hot spring. In many versions she worked as a singer, but in the most detailed stories, she was a dancer in one of the more popular shows. A flamenco dancer from Spain. The stories told at the school call her La Faraona, apparently her stage name as the star in one of the many shows at the casino at the Agua Caliente. 

She was supposedly also known as being somewhat of a good luck charm to keep at your side by the gambling tables at the casino. By her many admirers, she gained a lot of wealth in the form of diamonds and jewelry and there are rumors that she hid her treasures by the minaret which is the place her ghost has been spotted many times.

Crime of Passion

La Faraona: According to the legend, La Faraona laced her lovers drink with poison and they both ended up dead.

She was in a relationship with a man at the resort. Some call him Mr. Patrick, a British gentleman and a dealer that had made money on the alcohol smuggling business. In some accounts, he was even in Al Capone’s mafia. In all accounts however, it ended in tragedy when La Faraona killed him.

Why she did it differs from one version to the next, but it is usually by poison. In some accounts, she only poisons him, but in many versions, she does it to both of them. She supposedly poisoned her lover after stealing his money or after she realized he wasn’t intending to bring her back with him to England. In some versions it was because she saw him with another woman.

Apparently she laughed in his face when she poisoned him and even told him there was an antidote for it that she wouldn’t give him. He ran after her to get the antidote from her but didn’t get it. He then shot and killed her. 

This also meant that he would never find the antidote to the poison as well and he too died. Or they both died by the poison she laced their drinks with. Now they both haunt the former hotel where they ended their days. 

A Real Murder at the Hotel

When we look at the historical facts, there are only one murder registered at the Agua Caliente, although who knows how many that never made it to the public really happenend, we will never know. 

But a dancer working for the past four months at the Agua Caliente was found on 26. March in 1934. Named Esperanza López was found murdered in one of the bungalows at the premise that were kept for the artists at the casino. She had been shot by her husband who also worked at the hotel named Rodrigo Prieto. 

The hotel closed down in 1938 when the prohibitions were lifted in the states, and Mexico forbade gambling. Then the building was turned into a private school named Lázaro Cárdenas High School where the stories about the hauntings mostly came from.

And the students at the school keep insisting on seeing her ghost roaming about the place as she is never leaving the Agua Caliente.  

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References

Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, Revised Edition: Ghostly Locales From Around the world Av Jeff Belanger

Tijuana Was Once “Satan’s Playground” | KPBS Public Media

In Tijuana, searching for Al Capone – The Washington Post

La bailarina del Aguacaliente | Noticias de Tijuana | EL IMPARCIAL