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The Haunted Cantabrian Tunnel of Engaña

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A railroad network was started by political prisoners during the Franco regime, but never completed. Now it is said that the unfinished Cantabrian Tunnel of Engaña is haunted by those that died when trying to build it. 

Have you ever been enticed by a dark and mysterious place? If so, you won’t want to miss out on a visit to the haunted tunnel entrance in Spain of an incomplete railway tunnel called the Engaña Tunnel. 

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

It’s an eerie spot that’s shrouded in gloom and legend. As you explore its depths with no lights along the sides, you may find yourself surrounded by the ghosts of its past. 

The Unfinished Engaña Tunnel

At the entrance of the Cantabrian tunnel of Engaña people have claimed to have seen strange apparitions and heard mysterious sounds coming from the incomplete tunnel that runs through the Cantabrian Mountains. 

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

The tunnel was designed to go to the Bay of Biscay and connect it to the Mediterranean Sea by rail in 1942. With its almost 7000 meters of length it was supposed to be the longest railway tunnel in Spain, but the rails were never laid at all. 

Hundreds of people were building on this patch and the structure was also built by political prisoners of the Franco regime after the Spanish Civil War ended. 

When they started the project they  believed that it would only take a year, but nothing went as planned. The construction for this project lasted for 17 years however, the funds for the project ran out and the final patch of the stretch was abandoned in 1959 and never completed. 

The tunnel was built though and sometimes used as an alternative road when the other roads were closed due to snowfall, but the hazardous tunnel was closed after many collapses and was closed off.

Flooded: The Cantabrian Tunnel of Engaña is said to be haunted and has over the years also started to collapse or have become flooded.//Source:Roberto Lumbreras/wikimedia

According to the tales, hundreds of lives of the prisoners that were forced to build it died during the unfinished construction. 

This number is hard to back up by fact as the first years of construction were not written up. We do know however that at least 16 workers died during the construction from 1951 to 1959. So who really knows the truth about what happened before then?

The construction itself was ot the only thing that killed off those working on the tunnel, as a large number of the workers eventually died of lung diseases caused by inhaling the toxic crystalline silica dust from the tunnel. 

The Ghost of the Prisoners

The project itself was looked at as a failure and has stood as a dark entrance to a much darker past. The place was until it was sealed off mostly used by impatient drivers, people carrying illegal contraband and seekers of the paranormal.

Read more: Check out the story about The Haunted Inunaki Village in Japan, The Hangman’s Tunnel in Loja or The White Lady In Freihung for more ghost stories about haunted tunnels.

After the project was abandoned and the lives of the prisoners were almost forgotten, the stories of seeing their ghosts started to be told around the area. 

People talked about seeing the unfortunate prisoners that died building it and drivers claiming to have seen their ghosts as they pass the tunnel opening or dare to go through it as a shortcut through the mountains.

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References:

Descubrimos el ‘Stonehenge Charro’ y la ruta del vino de la Sierra de Francia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enga%C3%B1a_Tunnel

Los 10 tramos de carretera más misteriosos de España

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The Ghost Cat with Red Glowing Eyes of Acadia National Park

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After a devastating fire in 1947 in Acadia National Park in Maine, a man and his cat were engulfed in the flames. After this, there have been reports about people encountering what seems like the ghost cat Seawater staring at you through the trees with red glowing eyes.

In the whispered tales that drift through the mist-shrouded corners of the resort town of Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island in Maine, a haunting legend lingers—a story of a faithful cat and a tragic fire that claimed the life of her master. 

It is said that Seawater, a raggedy feline with eyes that gleam like rubies in the darkness, roams the island in search of her beloved owner, Willie Cunningham, lost to the flames of a great fire in 1947. 

The Great Fire of Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park is a stunning natural reserve located primarily on Mount Desert Island, the largest offshore island outside of Maine, United States. Established in 1916, it encompasses over 49,000 acres of rugged coastline, lush forests, granite peaks, and pristine lakes. 

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from USA

Acadia National Park is not only a haven for outdoor enthusiasts but also a place of profound natural beauty and ecological significance. What it also is known for is being one of the most haunted places and one of the ghost stories from the park is about the ghost cat from the Great Fire in 1947 that took the life of six people and left only ashes and ghosts.

In the chilling days of October 17, 1947, Acadia National Park became engulfed in a monstrous blaze that devoured over 10,000 acres of the ancient forests. The fire, born along Crooked Road west of Hulls Cove, spread its fiery fingers, consuming everything in its path. It wasn’t just the park that suffered—the flames licked hungrily at Mount Desert Island beyond its borders, leaving an additional 7,000 acres in ruins. 

The Fire in Acadia: The fire in 1947 burnt through the national park and according to the rumors, it only left ashes and ghosts.

This inferno was but one of many that ravaged Maine’s forests in a dry and desperate year. For almost a month, the fire raged unchecked. From the Coast Guard to the Army Air Corps, from the Navy to local residents, and National Park Service employees, all joined the battle against the encroaching flames. 

Historic summer cottages along Millionaires’ Row were reduced to ashes, along with homes and hotels, leaving only smoldering ruins in their wake.

Willie Cunningham and Ghost Cat

Willie, a solitary and elderly man living on Forest Street in Bar Harbor, had only his loyal companion, the cat Seawater he loved greatly. The cat was the only thing Willie had for company when disaster struck and the fire kept creeping in. 

As the inferno closed in on their home, Willie managed to flee to safety with Seawater in his arms to get into a vehicle that would take them so safety. But the terrified cat dashed back into the inferno when something scared it. Desperate to save his beloved pet, Willie disappeared into the smoke to follow the cat into the burning home they had tried to escape from, never to be seen alive again. 

Read More: Check out the short story The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

The rescuers had no choice but to leave them there and return after the flames had gotten under control. In the days that followed, Willie’s bones were discovered by a nearby stream, his tragic fate sealed by the flames. 

But what happened to the cat? It is said that Seawater’s spirit lives on as a ghost cat, her form growing larger and more ominous with each passing year. 

The Ghost of Seawater the Cat

Some claim to have encountered Seawater the cat in the darkened woods of Acadia, a spectral figure surrounded by a brood of shadowy cats. 

The story tells when the neighbor found Willie’s skull, it was like the eye sockets were still looking at something behind them. When the neighbor turned around he saw a black cat staring back at him. The ghost cat looked like Seawater had done, but the eyes seemed to glow red. 

Read More: Check out ghost stories like The Mysterious Legends of Hellfire Club on Montpelier Hill, The Black Ghost Cat of War and The History and Legends of the Haunted Abbaye De Mortemer for more stories about ghost cats.

The neighbor chased the ghost cat away then, but it was not the last time some claimed to have seen the ghost of Seawater in the woods. In 2005 a woman claimed to have seen around four cats where one of them was the size of a panther more than a house cat. 

And with each sighting, the legend of Seawater grows, her eyes blazing like beacons in the night, a ghostly guardian forever bound to the island she once called home.

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References:

Great Fires of 1947 – Wikipedia 

Have You Seen Acadia’s Ghost Cat? 

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The Haunted Stretch of Death

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There is a road in Extremadura, Spain that has been called The Stretch of Death because of all the accidents that are said to happen there. There is one legend though, that one of the accidents ended in a death that was never uncovered. Now the place is haunted by the victim trying to tell the truth. 

Spain is known for its beautiful and picturesque roads that weave through the countryside and mountains. But there is one road in Spain that is not so picturesque and definitely not for the faint-hearted. 

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

The road is called ‘The Stretch of Death‘ and it has a history of ghostly sightings and strange occurrences people have linked to the supernatural. And the cause of the supposed haunted road is said to be in the bottom of the nearby lagoon.

The Stretch of Death

In the Extremadura region in Spain, a place filled with mystery and tales of ghosts and the macabre. The place is landlocked bordering Portugal with the lowest population density in Spain. This makes a breeding ground for ghost stories such as this place here. 

The 2 kilometer stretch of road between Pozuelo de Zarzon and Monthermoso has crosses and flowers lined up on the sides of the roads after the many deadly accidents that have happened, hence it name: Stretch of Death. 

What Makes this Road so Dangerous?

Why is it that so many meet their end at this particular point on the road? Most allegedly haunted roads have something dangerous about them, like a sharp turn or perhaps a dark and narrow road with little visibility. There are not any dangerous curves on the Stretch of Death as it often is on these alleged haunted roads, but a straight line with good visibility of what comes ahead. 

People that drive along this road claim that the monotony of the route and road is to blame as it decreases attention to dangers ahead for the drivers. 

Local legend though is saying there is something paranormal happening along this place. 

The Hit and Run of the Girl Thrown in the Lagoon

One of the local legends has a disturbing story about the dangers of walking along this stretch of road. 

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

Once a local 17-year old girl was run over and died on the Stretch of Death by a car that didn’t pay any attention when driving. The people who ran her over panicked and didn’t want to get caught and face the consequences of their actions. They decided to cover up their crime and threw her body into a nearby lagoon. 

Her body was never found as it is still on the bottom of the lagoon according to the legend. Her murder and the culprits were never found and it was like she simply just vanished from the face of earth. Or did she?

Because of this the girl that died came back to haunt the place, to try to get the attention of the drivers and help her find her body in the lagoon where she was thrown in. 

The Red Stains on the Road that Never Washes off

Another creepy detail about this place is the red marks that people say supernaturally stained the road after the accident to show what happened. 

There are a couple of red stains on the asphalt on the Stretch of Death that no amount of cleaning or weathering have been able to erase. Could it just be the ferrous oxide of the pavement, or could it be the red blood from the accident that never wants to go away?

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Driving the 10 most haunted roads of Spain

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The Dark Haired Woman Haunting the Road in Asturias

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Like if appearing out of nowhere, a dark haired woman is said to haunt a road in Asturias. Some say she fell out of her carriage, some say she was killed by a jealous suitor. All say that she looks disoriented as if she is lost both in time and place. 

Spain is a country that’s steeped in history, culture and mystery. and it’s no wonder that many of its roads are steeped in legends and lore. There is one road that has long been known as a place where ghostly apparitions have been spotted and where drivers have experienced unexplainable occurrences.

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

One of the stretches of roads in Spain that gets the most complaints of being haunted is the AS-17 between Mengollo and Blimea in Asturias. 

The Strange Dark Haired Woman in Asturias

The complaints that comes in on this stretch of road in Asturias is about the same thing and has been going on for centuries, and is mostly about a dark-haired woman with long hair, looking around expressionless, looking a bit disoriented who suddenly appears when she comes out from behind one of the signs and shows herself to the shocked drivers.

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

Castle of Blimea: The ghost on the stretch of haunted road in Asturias is often connected with the legends of the castle of Blimea and the story about Florinda, the daughter living there.

According to the legend the ghost of this girl was Florinda, the daughter of the first owner of the castle of Blimea or possibly de la Cabezada. She was said to be very beautiful and had many suitors that wanted her hand in marriage.

Only problem though, she was in love with someone else. All the same, her father promised her to the most powerful, the lord of La Buelga. He demanded to know who her secret lover was, but Florinda kept her mouth shut. Even when she was imprisoned in the tower of his castle, she would not name him. In fact, she warned him that she belonged to no one but her secret lover, and she would kill herself if she couldn’t have him.

There are different version about how she ended up dying. Some say it was her spiteful suitor that ended up murdering her when she refused him on that stretch of road. Some say it was the secret lover, a servant in the castle that stabbed her to death as she wished when she was forced to marry the lord. He then proceeded to stab himself with the same dagger, that still was dripping with her blood.

The tragic tale of Florinda has been changed, merged and forgotten by many over the years. But the strange thing about the dark haired woman that suddenly appears on the road have often been connected with her.

The Women Missing from the Carriage

Another speculation about who this ghost on the road in Asturias is comes from the version of the legend where Florinda was a girl that returned to her family in the 11th century after taking her first communion when she fell from the carriage and died. 

People think that when they were passing through Valparaiso, a now abandoned city a pack of wolves as well as snakes scared the horse so it ran off with the parents still inside. 

When they finally made their way back, the daughter was missing and was never found. What happened with her was a thing of mysteries. Did she die? Did she go into the wild to become feral only to come back as the scary ghost of a dark haired woman suddenly appearing on the road? 

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References:

Las carreteras más misteriosas de España – Tendencias – CADENA 100

Los 10 tramos de carretera más misteriosos de España

Driving the 10 most haunted roads of Spain

Historia, leyenda y maldición del Castillo de Campogrande | GUÍA TURISMO ASTURIAS

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The Mystery of the Frozen Ghosts on Catalonia’s Haunted Road

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After a horrible explosion on the road that left a staggering amount of people dead, drivers passing this stretch of road have told tales about strange sightings of frozen ghosts. According to them, they all see the ghosts, frozen in time as if reliving the final moments before the disaster took their life on Catalonia’s Haunted Road. 

Spain is home to some of the most haunted roads in the world. From ghostly hitchhikers to phantom vehicles, these roads can be extremely dangerous at night. Many people have reported strange occurrences while driving on these roads, including sightings of ghosts and other supernatural entities. 

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

People have claimed there is a section of the road at Sant Carles de la Rapita where plenty of drivers have claimed to have seen people, men, women and children watching, not moving a muscle towards the place where the accident happened.

The History of Catalonia’s Haunted road

The road between Tarragona and Castellon in Catalonia has a long history of being one of the most dangerous and haunted roads in Spain that goes in a straight line passing in front of the campsite of Los Alfaques. 

On July 11 in 1978 there was a terrible accident on the road between Tarragona and Castellon in Castalonia when a tanker truck carrying 25 tons of propylene. It was carrying way more than it should and the cistern didn’t have any pressure relief system. 

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

While driving, this ended in an accident that caused an enormous fireball that ended up killing 243 people staying at the camp.

The car split in two and the whole camp area was filled with the fireball and burning liquid with a temperature of more than 2000 celsius. 

Read the whole New York Times Article Here

The Legend of the Frozen Ghosts

The accident only added to the road’s notoriety. Many people have reported strange occurrences on the road, including sightings of ghostly apparitions and phantom vehicles.

One of the most well-known legends surrounding Catalonia’s haunted road is that of the Frozen Ghosts. According to the legend, the ghosts of the victims of the 1978 accident haunt the road, frozen in time and unable to move on to the afterlife.

Read more: Check out the other mass hauntings after tragic accidents and catastrophes like the Ghosts of the Tsunami in Japan, The Haunting on Jeju Island in Korea or The Joelma Building and the Ghosts of the 13 Souls in Brazil. 

Many people have reported seeing ghostly apparitions on the road, including figures standing motionless on the side of the road. Some have even claimed that they have seen the faces of the victims in the mist that often shrouds the road at night.

First-hand accounts of Encountering the Frozen Ghosts

Some have claimed to have seen ghostly apparitions standing motionless on the side of the road, while others have reported seeing the faces of the victims in the mist that often shrouds the road at night.

There have been many retellings of the horrible accident that happened, and the paranormal phenomena was highlighted when the reporter Javier Perez Campos published his book Los ecos de la tragedia about what happened, and the strange stories that came after.

It asks the question, can ghosts be frozen in time, forever replaying the last seconds before disaster struck and forever put a dent in the straight stretch of haunted road.

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References:

Accidente de Los Alfaques – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Los 10 tramos de carretera más misteriosos de España

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The White Child of Las Hurdes and other Haunted Stories from the Road

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Mysterious ghostly children in the middle of the road, red eyes chasing cars and other ghosts, the roads in Las Hurdes have it all. From a place in Spain that are particularly known for its dark legends and stories, there is especially one stretch of road that people say to avoid. 

Spain is renowned for its beautiful landscapes and ancient culture, but there are also some roads that are said to be haunted. These haunted roads can be incredibly dangerous at night, as many people have reported seeing mysterious hitchhikers and other strange phenomena.

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

Driving down these haunted roads can be a frightening experience, as the stories of ghosts and spirits on the highway have been passed down from generation to generation. This article will explore some of the most notorious haunted roads in Spain, as well as the dangers they pose at night.

The Dark Legends of Las Hurdes

Because they do not know that there is a God/neither a world beyond this valley
– Las Batuecas del Duque de Alba, Lope de Vega

Aceitunilla: Classic architecture of Las Hurdes in Aceitunilla town where many of the ghost legends are from. //Source: Herrero Uceda/Wikimedia

Las Hurdes is a well known historical region in Spain and so are their ghost stories and dark legends of this remote place. Las Hurdes bordered with Sierra de Gata to the west, Sierra de Francia to the north and Trasierra/Tierras de Granadilla to the south. It is a relatively high mountain region with low population density landlocked in the Extremadura region on the border to Portugal.

Las Hurdes is a place filled with mystery and has dark legends surrounding it. It’s steeped in the macabre and dark stories that started circulating about the place as a backward and horrible place when a census about the place was written in the 16th century for the first time. 

According to this census, it used to be a remote, poor and isolated place with a horrible stench. The people living there lacked basic hygiene and suffered from birth defects from inbreeding and were barely human far from God in this godforsaken place in the middle of nowhere. 

Because of the remoteness there was little schooling and little church presence and it was said that old superstition prevailed in the area.

Even after all these years, the image of this remote area of Spain has stuck and Las Hurdes, and the entire region really has gotten a more haunted and dark reputation than the rest of sunny Spain.

The Haunted Road in Las Hurdes

There is a stretch of road in this landlocked region between the Hurdana farmhouse of Aceitunilla to Nuñomoral at EX-204. These old farmhouses are iconic for the region with their black roof and gray stone. 

According to the local stories about the place there are tales about the apparitions of women in period clothes with monstrous babies that are crying in the middle of the road. This baby, or babies, described as an unfinished fetus or an in between thing of a child and a fetus, is the most well known haunting of this place. 

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

There are also those who claim to have seen the ghost of children coming from the nearby cemeteries close to the road. 

The White Child of Las Hurdes

They call this phenomenon the white child of las Hurdes. It is always seen at night, when it is weeping and crying, but no one has figured out what the white child of las hurdes wants, and no one really knows what it is. 

The first time this phenomena was recorded was in 1870 when ten witnesses saw the thing on the roads. Since then, there have been at least twelve similar stories over the years. 

The child has been described as wearing what looks like an altar boy outfit with a white cloth reaching down to its feet, and there have even been stories where the ghosts have knocked on the nearby farmhouses doors. 

The Dangerous Roads of Las Hurdes

The White Child of Las Hurdes is apparently not the only thing haunting the roads around these parts. There are also those believing to have been chased by some red eye animal.  

So if you find yourself on these roads, beware, this is a haunted place and has been so for years. 

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References:

El niño blanco de Las Hurdes | Canal Extremadura
Las Hurdes – Wikipedia
Los 10 tramos de carretera más misteriosos de España

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The Ghost Girl Haunting Cuesta de las Doblas

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There is a dangerous curve in the middle of a steep slope in Spain said to be haunted called Cuesta de las Doblas. Several drivers have reported about seeing what appears to be a stranded girl without her car on the roads. But as soon as they see her, she disappears into thin air like a ghost. 

The Haunted road in Spain is a place that is known for its chilling history and unnerving atmosphere. It has become a place where drivers have reported strange occurrences and encounters with the supernatural. This road has a reputation for being one of the most haunted in Spain. It is considered to be so scary that many drivers will avoid it altogether.

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

This is the case with a particular bend in Spain that got extra attention in 2022 when the newspaper made a case for the haunted rumors going on there and let the people tell about their experiences, and they came flooding in. 

The Sharp Bend of Cuesta de las Doblas

The 2.3 kilometer long road of A-472 in Andalucia is said to be the road where some of the most serious traffic accidents happened in Spain as well as being one of the most haunted roads in the country. 

The road is down some slopes and suddenly there is a sharp curve that comes too abruptly on many drivers, especially if their speed is too high. 

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

There are more than hundreds of deaths that have occurred at the Cuesta de las Doblas between the 568 and 570 kilometers point. The old highway was made in 1937 and has a deadly and bad design on one of the curves and has claimed the lives of more than 100 victims in over 70 accidents. 

The Most Deadliest Collisions on the Road

On April 9, 1937, 16 people died on the Cuesta de las Doblas and in 1961 22 people died when the truck they were all crammed in drove off the curve because of the high speed and ended up in the bottom of the ravine.

One of the big accidents that happened was in 1973 when a bus carrying 49 passengers on June 10th was going to Almonte for Pentecost Monday. It didn’t make the turn and plunged down the ravine, falling over 40 meters that killed 8 of the women.

After this, the point where the bus went off and into the ravine has been known as the Black Point. Because of the many deaths and accidents the place has become a well known place for hauntings and apparitions. 

The Girl on the Curve

But who is it that is haunting the road where so many died? There are more than one ghost story about this stretch of road, but most popular is the story about seeing the ghost girl on the curve. 

A cold and rainy night on November 3rd in 1976, a taxi driver was going towards Sanlucar up the slopes of Cuesta de las Doblas when he saw a girl in a long white dress and blonde hair. The man in the taxi stopped and asked her what she was doing out in the bad weather. She said that she had trouble with her car and asked if she could get a lift. The taxi driver agreed and started driving. 

After they had been driving for a few moments they approached the infamous curve. She asked him if he knew of the curve? The taxi driver said yes. The girl said: That is where I died and disappeared into thin air. 

This is how the urban legend about the ghost most seen on the bend is told. A classical vanishing hitchhiker story as we know it. She is sometimes said to be wearing a white dress, sometimes a red jacket. Sometimes her hair is dark, then it’s blonde. The story has spun several stories and what the original one used to be is now unknown. 

Read more: Revisit the urban legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker

Mostly the reports talk about seeing a little girl dressed in a red jacket that looks like she is hitchhiking in the late hours right before the dangerous curve. Her age is unsure, but many claim her to be everything from a girl to a woman in her mid 20s.

According to some of the darkest versions of the stories about her, she is said to be one that causes new accidents to make people join her like she died. Some say that she acts as a warning about the dangerous curve ahead. 

A man working for the Guardia Civil was once stationed in Sanclúar la Mayor and was driving down the slopes of Cuesta de las Doblas one night. He suddenly saw a little girl walking along the road barefoot. Both he and his partner looked at each other and had both seen it. 

They turned around the car to check if something had happened, but when they backtracked they saw no one. Even though there are not many places to go but along the curve. When they returned to the barracks they told the sergeant what had happened and he asked at what place it had happened. 

When they told him it was on the curve of the Cuesta de las Doblas, he smiled and said it was a ghost there, but they shouldn’t talk about it out loud. 

The fact that the girl on the curve disappears when the car is passing seems to be a common denominator for this ghost story. After the Guardia Civil officer told his story to the newspaper, another man called Alfonso Castro chimed in and told of a similar incident. 

He was also driving late at night and there were also two in the car when it happened. When they passed the mysterious girl on the Cuesta de las Doblas, the woman in the passenger seat followed the girl with her eyes and shouted that the girl had just disappeared into thin air when they passed her. 

They also stopped and backed up, not 10 seconds had gone by since they saw her. With a flashlight they tried to see her, but found no one. 

Cuesta de las Doblas Today

Even though there are new security measures they didn’t have in the earlier days, Cuesta de las Doblas is still considered to be dangerous to drive on with its three lanes and no hard shoulder. 

But perhaps if you are forgetful when driving on these roads, there will come a ghost and give a warning before you as well share her fate. Or in worst case scenario, she will cause the accident so you will join her in her road trip going on forever.

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References:

Nuevos encuentros paranormales en la Cuesta de las Doblas, en Sanlúcar la Mayor
Aparición del fantasma de la Cuesta de las Doblas en Sanlúcar la Mayor
Driving the 10 most haunted roads of Spain

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The Many Hauntings of the Reina Sofia Museum

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Ominous messages from the ouija board, ghostly nuns and haunts the former General Hospital in Madrid. Now the Reina Sofia Museum houses modern art and paintings by Picasso and Dali, it also houses Madrid’s dark past. 

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain is said to be one of the most haunted places in the country as well as exhibiting one of the best collections of 20th century modern art. 

The museum opened in 1992 and was named after Queen Sofia of Spain and is mainly dedicated to Spanish art. In 2021 it was the most visited museum in Spain and the 8th most visited art museum in the world.  

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

As well as musing at the works by Picasso, Dali among other of the big artists of that time. The most famous art piece inside is definitely Picasso’s Guerica, it is said to be a place to spot a ghost or two as well in the old building that has a very different origin than the fine art museum it is today. 

The Hospital for the Poor People Sent to Die

Long before it was used as an art museum with famous paintings adorning the walls, the building was used as a hospital. It was built in the 1600s on the orders of King Philip. 

It was the start of unifying hospitals to a general hospital and in the beginning it was also a homeless shelter as well as a hospital. The area they decided to build the grand hospital was known as the Atocha Olive Grove where there already was a hospital for the poor located.

In other words, it was a hospital for the poor people and it was in reality a place where they were sent to die. These types of hospitals had a horrible reputation and were the last place someone wanted to end up as you most likely wouldn’t walk out. 

The New General Hospital in Madrid

It was for a time the biggest institution with thousands of patients that had nowhere else to go. By the middle of the  18th century cared for almost 14,000 patients a year. The hospital always had patients coming in and was always at the limit and over of what they could offer in terms of health service. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from old hospitals like Hauntingly Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital or Hauntings at the Weston State Hospital or the Trans-Allegheny Asylum

It also was always in need of finances and in the end it was mostly financed by charity. And in the mid 17th century the income from bullfights financed many of the general hospitals in Spain.

The place operated as a hospital for almost 300 years before closing down as a hospital in 1969. 

What happened during the time as a Hospital

Who really knows the extent of what went on in the centuries the hospital was in operation. From the morbid medieval methods of medicine, countless of plagues throughout the times, the Spanish Inquisition as well as the Spanish Civil War were it is said the hospital was used as a place of torture and executions.

The Haunting of the Nuns

The people that worked there were mostly nuns, and it is those people who claim to haunt the halls as well as the patients that died. 

One of these events people claimed to have witnessed was the three nuns walking slowly side by side. They had their hands over their shoulders and their rosary at their waist. While walking they were singing a religious song. When they walked to the end og the corridor, they vanished into the thin air and the only thing left was the faint ringing of bells. 

The Bodies Discovered During Renovation

When the place was converted into the art gallery it is today, they did some major renovations of the place. During the renovations in 1982 the construction workers found plenty of human skulls and skeletons together with shackles and chains.  

They were found everywhere around the old hospital, especially in the garden and the surrounding areas.

During another stage of the rebuilding in 1990 they found many skeletons of children as well as allegedly finding three mummified nuns in one of the chapels. 

Atalúlfo the Ghost from the Ouija Board

Ghoulish screams and ghostly shapes wandering the halls are said to be some of the hauntings happening in the former hospital. There are also doors slamming shut seen by the security guards working the night shift. 

The cleaning personnel came in in the early morning and saw figures sitting on the benches in the patio and museum visitors that mistook ghosts for real living people.

Once a group of four museum guards wanted to have some fun in the long night shift and decided to try out a ouija board to test out the rumors about their workplace being true. 

They asked for contact and when asked the board spelled out that his name was Atalúlfo , and he came with a warning. He said he was a patient at the hospital and had been a madman as well as a murderer. When further questioned Atalúlfo said: “In a couple of days you are going to have a great misfortune. Get Ready”.

A couple of days later, one of the guard’s close relatives died in a traffic accident, and they never played the game again. The ghost of Atalúlfo continued to haunt and a guard tried to leave and filed a complaint where he blamed his anxiousness at work because of the disturbances caused by this ghost. 

One former employee even wrote a report after being denied a transfer. According to this report by  Raquel Arrogante Díaz, she had started to experience anxiety as soon as she started working right next to the famous painting of Guernica. She also started to hear voices and started to speak in a little girl’s voice, as if someone was manifesting their spirit through her body.

Paranormal Investigation by the Hepta Group

In 1992 a group of paranormal researchers known as The Hepta Group were allowed by the authorities to investigate these claims that the night guards spoke of. They were led by the well known priest José María Pilón and had an architect, physicists, a journalist and a photographer

The Hepta Group went down in the underground corridors, crypts and investigated the old walls. They came back with many tales, figures in the shadow, locked doors unlocking and opening. Mostly they talked about people in religious attire like a nun and monk in his robe wandering the halls.

There have also been complaints about the elevator malfunctioning that they would suddenly start and go up and down, making the security guards think there was a break in. When they went to investigate the elevators, there was no one there when the doors opened. There have also been reports about alarms going off for no reason.

A second investigation by the Hepta group was conducted in 1995. They tried to publish the story and it was published in the newspaper El Diario on April 21 the same year. It didn’t really cause a big stir as the publication of the ghosts in the Linares Palace nearby overshadowed it a bit and the story was slowly forgotten. 

The hauntings continued though with new witnesses constantly seeing ghostly figures, hearing shouts and voices coming from no one. 

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References:

https://www.elespanol.com/reportajes/grandes-historias/20160923/157734813_0.html
Ghosts in the Reina Sofí­a Museum | Bindu Trips
The 5 most Haunted Places in Spain
Hospital General y de la Pasión – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

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Ghostly Encounters at the Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda

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In a former sanatorium turned into a psychiatric hospital, there have been tales about hauntings for years. A culmination of all the tragic souls trapped there is said to be haunting the Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda’s abandoned building.

The Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda sanatorium in the Navacerrada mountains close to Madrid in Spain. The sanatorium was built in 1941 in Franco’s Spain to treat some of the very serious diseases that plagued the country. The hospital was also called La Barranca and later The Navacerrada Psychiatric Hospital.

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

Patients suffering from tuberculosis, leprosy, polio and other heavy diseases were sent here to the Pinar de la Barranca. Illnesses like tuberculosis wouldn’t get a better cure until the 50s with the rise of antibiotics and was looked as like the white plague because of how the patients looked with the disease.  

At the time, cold and dry air was the best climate to treat it and is the reason why so many tuberculosis hospitals were built in the Sierra de Guadarrama area as with the case with Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda .  

Sanatoriums in Europe

A sanatorium is an old name for specialized hospitals that were made for specific ailments. They were often built in the countryside with plenty of fresh air in a healthy climate isolated from the outside world. Sanatoriums across Europe and America were very popular to treat tuberculosis until the discovery of antibiotics. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from old hospitals like Hauntingly Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital or Hauntings at the Weston State Hospital or the Trans-Allegheny Asylum

It could however also be a place for people to heal from things like alcoholism, nervous diseases like hysteria or emotional exhaustions. After medical advances the use of sanatoriums declined and many were abandoned in the mid 1900s often and has since gained a haunted reputation. 

Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda Closes

After these diseases were slowly but surely cured, the sanatorium was converted into a psychiatric hospital in 1950 before finally closing in 1995. 

The Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda was for a long time not completely closed off and it was an easy access to curious people that wanted to have a look. 

Inside they could find records of patients and treatments that hadn’t been cleared out as well as experiencing what some claim was something paranormal. 

The Haunting of the Sanatorium

The people that have decided to go inside of the abandoned Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda claim that they felt some sort of presence in the abandoned corridors and doors would open and close with some kind of force. 

The electrical devices they brought with them inside had a habit of stopping working. There are also those who claim to have seen lights that look like little lanterns walking around. 

Who are the ghosts Haunting Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda

But who are the ghosts still haunting the old Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda? There is not a single ghost that are talked about, rather a culmination of all the souls that passed the hospital is said to have left some sort of energy behind. There are however reports about people spotting distinctive figures haunting the place. 

There are said to be children running around in the corridor, playing a game that will last an eternity. There are also reports of old women wearing white clothes, looking confused. A mother has been spotted leaning out of the windows with a baby in her arms as well as the more vague footsteps and voices coming from the darkness. 

From what time these ghosts came from is uncertain. Was it from the time it was used as an anti-tuberculosis sanatorium or perhaps later when it was converted into a psychiatric hospital.

The Future of the Sanatorium

The building was big and could be used for many purposes. Why is it that no one put the old building in use? Was it because of the haunted rumors no one wanted to have a part in? Perhaps it was just because the location is far away from anything and inconvenient?

Today the place is only visited by vandals, paranormal seekers and spiritualists although the place is closed off for visitors and is punishable by a fine. 

In September 2020, the building made headlines when a man fell through two floors and hurt himself badly. He said he was there with friends to drink and do spiritualism to try to contact the afterlife. And in the effort, he almost went to the other side himself. 

In 2023 though, the national park the Sanatorium of Santo Angel de la Guarda is located in decided to demolish the building. Exactly when it happens though, is unclear but was believed that would be done during that year.

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DESMEMORIATS: HOSPITAL DEL SANTO ÁNGEL DE LA GUARDA
The 10 most famous haunted houses in Spain — idealista

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The Haunted Hospital del Tórax de Terassa

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The old Hospital for respiratory illnesses in Spain are said to be haunted by the patients that suffered a slow and painful death. The Hospital del Tórax de Terassa has since been abandoned, but people keep finding strange and disturbing things that maybe should be left in the darkness. 

This eerie hospital is said to be home to a ghost that has been lurking around its halls for years. People have reported strange occurrences and unexplainable sightings that suggest this hospital is indeed haunted.

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

A hospital that is said to be haunted is the Hospital del Tórax de Terassa in Catalonia, Spain that opened in 1952 closed in 1997 and was abandoned for years until 2004 when the city decided to remodel the building to be used for a residence wing as well as a location for horror movies. 

Recovery Center in the La Pineda Forest

The hospital used to be a hospital that specializes in respiratory illnesses for patients in Catalonia like lung cancer, fibrosis and the much feared tuberculosis and was when it opened the largest hospital in Europe that treated tuberculosis. And even if the illness was about to be practically eradicated, there were still a fair amount of cases in Spain in the 50s of the white plague. 

Abandoned Building: The Haunted Hospital del Tórax de Terassa or Sanatori de Terrassa is thought to be haunted by the patients that jumped to their death. //Source: Enric/wikimedia

The patients were in deep pain suffering a very slow and painful death trying to get better in the fresh air of the La Pineda forest close to Barcelona in an area known as Llano del Buen Aire. The city of Tarrasa was the city with the lowest incidence of tuberculosis in Catalonia as well.  

Hospital del Tórax de Terassa was primarily a recovery center and the climate the place gave was the perfect setting for the 18 month recovery process from tuberculosis. The terraces on every floor were perfect for the patients to sit outside in and breathe in the fresh air the place had to offer. 

Although Hospital del Tórax de Terassa was in a fresh place, it was a desolate place far away from the city, and the patients had to be months separated from their loved ones. 

The hospital from the 50s had around 1500 rooms that separated the lower-class from the upper-class. In 1970, when the tuberculosis patients slowly declined, the place was turned into a general hospital. 

The Use of Hospital del Tórax de Terassa

A sanatorium is an old name for specialized hospitals that were made for specific ailments. They were often built in the countryside with plenty of fresh air in a healthy climate isolated from the outside world. Sanatoriums across Europe and America were very popular to treat tuberculosis until the discovery of antibiotics. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from old hospitals like Hauntingly Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital or Hauntings at the Weston State Hospital or the Trans-Allegheny Asylum

It could however also be a place for people to heal from things like alcoholism, nervous diseases like hysteria or emotional exhaustions. After medical advances the us of sanatoriums declined and many were abandoned in the mid 1900s often and has since gained a haunted reputation. 

The Nurses Caring for the Patients

The workload for the staff at Hospital del Tórax de Terassa must have been overwhelming, and there were around 50 nurses and nuns to take care of the over 1000 patients everyday that sometimes needed constant care. 

The caretakers and nurses at the hospital was a community of 25 Carmelite nuns that joined the hospital in 1954. Nuns have often a history of being the caretakers at hospitals, sanatoriums, orphanages and the likes in catholic countries like Spain, especially in the past.

The nuns left the hospital 20 years later though, due to the poor management of the hospital by the owners. Instead they hired inexperienced students from the nursing school that oftentimes took way more over their heads than they could offer in terms of being qualified to treat tuberculosis. 

The Many Deaths in “The Jungle”

For years the Hospital del Tórax de Terassa had the highest numbers of suicides in Spain. In one week when it was really bad, 21 people took their own lives while admitted to the hospital. 

The reasons for why varied. Some were just in so much pain that they weren’t able to take it anymore. Some were on a lot of drugs or some sort of psychosis. Some were just clinically depressed because of their long stay far away from anything as the patients were isolated completely from the world and the only form of contact was through the telephone and radio. 

It could also be because their family just dumped them there and they had nowhere to go once they were let out. Some knew that they would never be better and decided they would slowly waste away in the hospital bed. 

The legend says that the patients jumped from the ninth floor and into the garden. This garden was nicknamed The Jungle because of the horrible screams that could be heard before another body hit the ground.  

The Jungle is said to be a haunted place by the former patients of Hospital del Tórax de Terassa that jumped to their death even to this day. According to legend it is said you can still hear their dying last screams from falling or the excruciating moans and pain from those that didn’t immediately die from the fall. 

The Dark Magic Done in The Chapel

The 9th floor and the garden outside is not the only place the ghosts are haunting in the former sanatorium. According to those investigating they have found strange paranormal activity in the old chapel. 

According to some legends, there was dark magic going on inside of the chapel done by the people working there as well as some of the patients. Some claim it was even a place for satanic rituals, as many abandoned buildings are accused of.

Although whether that is true or not, has never really been found out.   

The Fetus in a Jar and Other Strange Things Left Behind

It is not only ghosts that creeps people out about the former hospital as it is also a location that serves those wanting a perfect place to shoot a horror movie as the place is now used as the Audiovisual Park of Catalonia.  

There are also creepy remains from the time it served as a hospital. In 2004 the police arrested a young man with something horrible in his possession found at the hospital. He had a fetus sealed in a jar filled with formaldehyde that he claimed he found on the 5th floor. 

Who the fetus came from, why it was on the 5th floor of Hospital del Tórax de Terassa and to what purpose, no one knows. 

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References:

El terrorífico Hospital del Tórax: ¿leyenda o realidad?
Hospital del Tórax de Terrassa
Hospital del Tórax (Tarrasa) – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Hospital Torax de Terrassa – Sant Miquel de Gonteres, Spain – Atlas Obscura
The 10 most famous haunted houses in Spain — idealista