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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

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Hospital of the Five Wounds and the Ghost of the Nun Haunting it

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The Hospital of the Five Wounds in Seville, Spain is said to be haunted by both the many victims of the plague as well as a vicious nun called Sister Ursula that was so horrible towards her patients, she is cursed to be stuck in her afterlife as a ghost. 

In 1965 Manuel Moreno was admitted to Hospital of the Five Wounds and had snuck out in the corridor to smoke in secret. He suddenly felt cold and the cigarette went out. When he turned he was faced to face with a nun looking at him disapprovingly. Scared, he ran off, knowing that it was a ghost he had encountered and ran to tell the nurses. They didn’t believe him, and the superior nun told him, “do you see how it is not good to smoke?”. Since that day, Moreno never touched a cigarette, but countless eyewitnesses would go on to see the ghosts that are said to haunt the Hospital of Five Wounds. 

Today the building that was once a hospital called Hospital de las Cinco Llagas that means The Hospital of the Five Wounds is used to host the Andalucian Parliament in Seville, Spain. It is also known as Hospital de la Sangre, which means Hospital of Bloods.

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

You can find this old building between the Arab Walls and the Basilica de la Macarena in Seville. At the time of construction Hospital of the Five Wounds was the biggest in Spain and it was in its day the biggest hospital in Europe together with the Hospital Mayor of Milan in Filerete. 

The building is old and was first started in the 1500s as a hospital for women. So the only patients were women, with the exception for poor men that had nowhere to go. But that would all have to wait when the plagues started ravaging Spain the following centuries. 

The Plague and the Hospital of Blood

Throughout the years, the hospital was the place that faced the consequences of the illness, wars and death. The second half of the 17th century in Spain was particularly hard with drought, plagues and intense rainfall that worsened the life and health of the people. 

Seville was the most affected city in the country of this disease and it is estimated that a quarter of Seville’s population died during the plague, and the hospital was where everyone was brought. Of the around 25 000 of the plague patients that passed through the hospital only around 3000 walked out alive. Even the staff couldn’t live through the pandemic and more than 800 priests died, and 80 percent of the doctors that tried to cure them.

Although the Hospital of the Five Wounds is huge, the sickness was so many that the dead were piled on the esplanade and in the huge courtyards of the hospital. It was after this horrible plague that the hospital started to get known for its second name, The Hospital de la Sangre. 

Closing the Hospital of the Five Wounds

Bad economy and another plague hit the Hospital of the Five Wounds in the 19th century and different wars also affected the hospital that had to lay off staff on several occasions due to the economy. 

The Hospital of the Five Wounds: Today the former hospital is used for the Parlamento de Andalucía. (Antiguo Hospital de las cinco llagas)//Source: Anual/wikimedia

The building functioned as a hospital until 1972. For years after, the grand building in the style of Spanish Renaissance was left abandoned. The place was huge, but it was in a terrible state not fit for modern hospitals. 

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

In 1992 they started to restore the Hospital of the Five Wounds to be used once again and the Parliament in Andalucia moved into it. 

Hauntings at the hospital

For many years there were unexplainable and strange events that happened. Over the years there have been a lot of investigations into the haunted rumors of the Hospital of the Five Wounds. It is even said there worked a security guard there that refused to make his rounds at night alone in the building. 

Even the former president of the parliament, Plácido Fernández Viagas claimed to have experienced something paranormal while working as an elected member in the building. 

It was said that the Hospital of the Five Wounds was haunted by soldiers that died from their war wounds, plague victims, women that died giving birth. Together they have formed a sense of presence in the old building, still wandering the halls they thought would help them heal from their ailments.

The Ghost of Sister Ursula

The most impressive thing about the Hospital of the Five Wounds is without the church with its latin cross. The hospital was run by an order of nuns of the Order Charity. 

The paranormal activity was blamed on the legend of Sister Ursula. She was a nun of the Order of Charity that used to work in the hospital when the plague ravaged the city during the 17th century, and we have written accounts that she was there around 1734 and 1738. 

She is no longer a healing nun though, and roams the hall of Hospital of the Five Wounds to scare and seek to cause pain to those in the building. Apparently she was a ruthless and abominable soul while she was alive, even though she was at the hospital to nurse. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories about nuns haunting the world like Wessobrunn Abbey’s Ghosts, Dracula and Ghost Nuns in Whitby Abbey or The Haunting of The House of Hohenzollern

According to the stories, she demanded inhuman discipline from those around her and was cold and heartless with a bad temperament. Many of her patients would die just right after she had been attending to them. Some of them were not even terminally ill. 

According to the legend, she died during the plague and started appearing in the corridors at night. She was still dressed in her habit and carried a set of keys on her belt that would rattle and make a ruckus as she roamed the halls.

This was witnessed in a June day in 1968 when the 40 year old Antonio Rodríguez was in a hospital bed and spotted the nun:

“it was late, the pain in my leg did not let me sleep and I was awake, in front of me, right in front of my bed something began to “shine” which I called my attention, little by little a human body was formed that wore a habit, it was a transparent nun who began to walk down the hall, the metallic jingle of her key ring full of keys resounding, as if she were doing a round on the sick…”

Especially right after the Hospital of the Five Wounds closed down in 1972 it was said by the neighbors that they saw a nun wearing ancient clothes wandering around the hospital. Perhaps she was confused about where everyone went off to and not having anyone to bother anymore. Perhaps the fact that the parliament moved into the building suits her perfectly. 

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The Haunted Preventorio de Aigües in Alicante

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The former wellness hotel and sanatorium called Preventorio de Aigües is said to have healing thermal water as well as the ruins of the buildings are said to have attracted ghosts. This abandoned building close to Alicante is popular with paranormal seekers and ghosts alike. 

Among the many haunted places around the world, Haunted Hospital in Spain is known for its eerie atmosphere. The ghost that is said to linger in the hospital has been a topic of discussion for horror enthusiasts for a long time. 

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

The hospital has a dark history, and it’s not hard to imagine the spirits of those who perished there still wandering through its corridors.

The Time as a Wellbeing Hotel

This 19th century building high up in the mountains 25 kilometers from the city of Alicante in Spain was originally built as a luxury hotel in Aguas de Busot by Count de Casa de Rojas and Marquis de Bosh for the rich and wealthy. 

The hotel was known as Hotel Miramar Winter Station and was built out with many buildings, chapels, a casino, a playground and sport facilities. It was a state of luxury, and the guests were all from high society where even the King and Queen of Spain visited.

Haunted Building: the Preventorio de Aigües now abandoned is thought to be haunted by the children that used to live there when it was used as a sanatorium//Source: Jesús Alenda/wikimedia

Today the only building still standing from it is the building from 1816 designed by the architect Pedro Garcia Faria and the once glorious place is now only an abandoned shell of what it once was. And throughout the years, it truly was a lot.   

The Civil War Closed the Door of the Hotel

But the story took a sharp turn in the later years. In 1930 the luxury hotel closed its doors as a hotel and spa. According to the stories, it is said that the owner, Marquis de Bosch lost the hotel in a poker game.

At the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Preventorio de Aguas de Busot was turned into a sanatorium for children. The idea was to take uninfected children and keep them away to prevent them from being infected as well as to accommodate orphans. 

When the disease started to die out the hospital was abandoned in the late 1960s and remains so to this day. 

The Building as a Sanatorium

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. 

The Healing Thermal Water

The water in the area was thought to contain healing properties all the way back to Roman times and it is also chronicled by Arabs that resided in Spain in medieval times. 

They have talked about the good water in the hot springs found in the area, making it a perfect spot for a wellbeing hotel. It is also a place perfect for where mysterious things happen.

The Haunting in the Abandoned building

Now the building is abandoned and the only visitors are those seeking out the paranormal rumors and trying to investigate if they are true or not. In 2005 they tried to install some fences around the place, but no fences have ever held the most intense people out. 

People that have visited the place say that you can find many secret tunnels from the war leading as far to the neighboring town called Campello. There is even paperwork from both the time it served as a hotel as well as a hospital where even old patient files lie scattered around in the ruins. They have also come back claiming to have seen a ghost or two. 

Inside the old hospital it is said you can hear whistles while a translucent figure is climbing the ruined stairs.

It is said the place is haunted by the children that ended their life here, even though there are not really any recordings of deaths related to tuberculosis in the building. The legend persists and there are many who claim to have seen the ghosts of children around the ruins. 

Although no one really died of tuberculosis, there were recorded deaths of fires, sunstrokes and falls. 

The Woman in White

It is also said that a woman in white is seen crying when calamities approach. According to the legend, she could be seen in the reflection in a mirror that hung by the stairs to the first floor.  If you saw her laughing and crying at the same time, it was all good. But if you saw her only sobbing it meant something bad was going to happen. 

She is most often seen walking around the building at night and some claim that was  the wife of the Count of Casas Rojas, the former owner of the hotel and spas. Some of the variations of the legends says that she used to reside inside of a mirror, but when the mirror broke, she escaped and is now walking freely around.

According to the locals, the staff that used to work there used black magic in the church in the building and there are rumors that the place was also the place for a sect with ill intentions. 

The Future of the Sanatorium

Through the knocked down fences, the dark building stands looming on the hill. 

What will happen with the building is unclear, as it has been the topic of debate and in court for decades now. Some want to construct a hotel again, perhaps turn it into a museum. Some even want to tear the entire building to the ground. 

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El abandonado preventorio de Aigües de Busot: sanatorio de tuberculosos
El Preventorio de Aguas de Busot en Alicante | Excursiones
Preventorio de Aguas de Busot: Siniestro Levante | Traveler
Preventorio de Aguas de Busot – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
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Visiting Spain’s Most Haunted Locations | Right Casa Estates

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Verge del Toro Hospital and the Night it Became Haunted

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One night the Spanish Civil Guard were called out to strange things happening at the old Verge del Toro Hospital in Spain. When they got there, they experienced what they claim was an extreme haunting from the ghosts of the former patients. 

On the island of Menorca there was a hospital that closed in 2007 after the New Mateu Orfila General Hospital opened on Menorca. The hospital in the city of Mahon had operated for over 60 years before closing its doors. 

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

The hospital became a well known haunted hospital after they did a segment on the place on the Cuarto Milenio program that showcases different allegedly haunted locations and ghost stories in 2012. 

The story was told of Daniel, in the civil guard from Menorca that had visited the closed hospital five years earlier.

The Night of the Haunting at the Hospital of Verge del Toro

On November 1st in 2007 the Spanish Civil Guard as well as the police got a call for someone breaking in  around half past two in the morning and they went in after a warning for the night security working in the building. 

At this time, the Verge del Toro hospital had already been abandoned for a couple of months, the windows were dark, the doors locked.

A patrol of two agents arrived shortly after and went from room to room to find the ones breaking in but found no one. When they were on the ground floor however, they heard a macabre laughter and whispers coming from the upper floors. 

When they were standing outside of the hospital they could see how the lights in the former hospital went on and off for no reason and shadows appeared and disappeared in the windows.

The guards called for backup and four Civil Guard agents as well as two from the National Police Corpse that just happened to be walking by were tasked to inspect the hospital further. 

They went in again, both by the stairs and the elevators from first to fifth floor to find those laughing and pranking in the empty hospital, but found no one. 

Daniel told the TV-program that they believed those breaking in at the Verge del Toro hospital hid and that further steps were needed to get to the bottom of the strange things happening in the abandoned hospital. 

On the third inspection when they went in full force with even police dogs with them they finally realized that not everything was as it should and the strange things happening was not the work of people that had broken in. 

When they went up to the 5th floor they had already inspected two times, they found that the heavy beds and furniture like lamps were dragged across the rooms and the doors to the cabinets were opened up. The furniture was too heavy to be moved in the ten minutes they left the room, according to Daniel. 

They tried to get the highly trained police dogs to come along with them to the top floor in the elevator. The dogs had been perfectly fine up to this point, but started crying when in the elevator and refused to go out when they reached the top floor. Not even when the owner threw their favorite toys into the corridor they managed to get the dog out. The owner claimed that usually the dog would have gone to the bottom of the sea to look for the toy. But not out in this haunted corridor. 

The Woman in White

It was then they saw her, on their fourth attempt to find out what was happening there. Hidden in the corner they saw the shadow of a very strange woman, almost as if covering in the shadows around 20 to 25 meters away from them. 

The agents asked her to identify herself and get out with her hands up. They get no response from the strange woman. They ask again and tell that they will draw their weapons if she disobeys and threatens them in any way. 

Then the woman is said to have just suddenly disappeared into thin air right before their eyes. This was even with the windows and the doors of the hospital blocked off and agents at all of the exits. There was simply no physical reason to disappear from the place. 

The Neighbours Spotting the Ghosts

It is said that that night was not the only night when something strange occurred in the hospital. Several months after the episode had aired on TV, the residents of the Tanques del Carme neighborhood next to the hospital experienced somethings strange as well when they noticed that again strange things were happening to the lights in the otherwise dark fromer hospital. 

After many years of controversies over what to do with the building, they decided to reform it into a socio-health center in 2019, and is still undergoing remodeling. 

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

After the strange events at the Verge del Toro hospital right after its closing, the people that went that night still have no rational explanation for what happened. 

The 5th floor used to be reserved for people with psychiatric problems and people think that it must have been a former patient there. Did she come back after the Verge del Toro hospital closed down for some reason? Or was it so that she really came back from the dead?

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The Ghosts of the White Plague Haunting the Alfaguara Sanatorium

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In the ruins of Alfaguara Sanatorium, also known as The Berta Hospital in Spain they tried as many sanatoriums did, to cure tuberculosis. It is said the victims of the white plague are still haunting the ground as well as the founder of the hospital.  

One of the smallest haunted hospitals in Spain is known for its long history of ghost sightings and paranormal activity. This hospital has been abandoned for many years and has become a popular destination for ghost hunters and thrill-seekers alike.

In Granada there was a sanatorium that was built in 1923 to help with the rising problem of tuberculosis in wartime at the beginning of the 20th century and operated as a hospital until it closed in 1940. 

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

At the hospital’s inauguration the archbishop, the military governor and representatives of the city council of Granada with a large audience helped open the hospital. The furniture was even donated by Queen Victoria Eugenia who served as the president of the Red Cross for Ladies. Later the hospital was abandoned and forgotten except for the ghosts said to roam in the ruins. 

The Old Alfaguara Sanatorium

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. 

Tuberculosis was one of the deadliest illnesses in Europe at the turn of the century and was often known as the white plague and is one of the oldest diseases we have proof of.

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. 

Trying to Cure Tuberculosis

The Alfaguara Sanatorium was built with the money of a German Lady, Berta Wilhelmi, a philanthropist and was also known as the Berta Hospital. It was built in the area of what is now known as the heart of the Sierra de Huetor Natural Park in the mountain range, surrounded by Mediterranean and pine forest and fresh air in the mountains, something that was especially good for tuberculosis patients. 

Berta Wilhelmi was a businesswoman and philanthropist who had settled in Granada in 1870 when she was a child after moving from Heilbronn, Germany after the family mill had burnt to the ground and they went to Spain to start again. 

She had a brother who was named Luis who passed away from tuberculosis when he was only 12 years old and to cure people from it was close to her heart. 

This is why she invested a huge amount of her personal fortune into building a hospital that could help prevent further death from this disease. 

The Berta Hospital

Together with some doctors they built a new hospital to help with the rise of tuberculosis in the region. Tuberculosis was a dangerous illness at this time and spread fast in the overcrowded time of the early industrialization of the world and the approaching civil war that turned it into an epidemic. 

Most patients didn’t pay for their stay as it was first and foremost a philanthropic project for Berta and those who did pay paid three pesetas for their board at the hospital. 

The small hospital of Alfaguara Sanatorium was made to house 24 patients, and they also made a preventorium to house children in addition later. They stayed in their own pavilion named after Berta’s own son that passed away in 1925. 

She was well known for this type of work, and had also founded schools and was the director for the hospital until her death in 1934. And for the believers of the paranormal, some claim that her ghost is still roaming the place and looking out for it. 

The Ruins of the Hospital

The ruins of the building of Alfaguara Sanatorium are pretty hidden away and are today mostly rubbles and ruins you have to reach by foot up the mountain. 

The rumors say the sanatorium closed down for unknown reasons. What we do know is that the Spanish Civil War was raging at the time and the hospital was very close to one of the fronts and trenches by the Toriles fort near the town of Cogollos.

At one point in 1939 the hospital had more than 60 armed soldiers inside the compound and the scars of the Civil War in Spain are still felt by the nation where thousands of people died for their ideologies.

In the postwar times it was completely abandoned, but has been protected as a part of the forest conservation program of the Natural Park where it is in. 

The Ghosts of the Alfaguara Sanatorium

Today Alfaguara Sanatorium is known as a haunted place that draws hiking ghost hunters to see the ruins for themselves and do an investigation of the place. People that have visited claim to have seen ghostly silhouettes in the ruins and heard voices of the people that used to live there. 

Who are the ghosts that are said to haunt the place? A fact is that many of the tuberculosis patients didn’t make it, and some claim that it is the spirits of the patients taken by the white plague that is haunting the place. 

Considering Alfaguara Sanatorium role in the Spanish Civil War as well, some speculate that there were victims of war that ended their days inside of the hospital.  

Could it be Berta herself who is haunting her old hospital she poured her passion and love into just to see it crumble just a couple of decades after she built it?  

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The Lady in White Haunting the Parador Sigüenza Castle

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It is said that the former castle is haunted by Doña Blanca de Borbón, a French woman who was married off to the lord of the castle in a miserable marriage for them both. She was assassinated in the end and are said to haunt the halls of Parador Sigüenza Castle

Shrouded in mystery and intrigue we find the haunted history of Parador Sigüenza Castle located in the breathtaking landscapes of Guadalajara in Spain, this ancient fortress has witnessed centuries of tumultuous events, leaving behind a trail of ghostly tales and legends. 

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

From the eerie apparitions that wander its dimly lit corridors to the bone-chilling whispers that echo through its grand halls, Parador Sigüenza Castle has become a haven for thrill-seekers and lovers of the supernatural. 

Parador Hotels in Spain

This former castle is now a part of the National Parador Hotel chain that takes historic sites and turns them into hotels you can stay in and experience the rich history of the building. Spain is renowned for its stunning landscapes, rich history, and unique cultural heritage. Among the many treasures that the country holds, Parador Hotels stand out as true gems. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories set in Haunted Hotels

These hotels are often housed in historic buildings, such as castles, monasteries, and palaces, offering visitors a chance to experience the past in a truly immersive way. Parador Sigüenza Castle is one such remarkable property, located in the Guadalajara Province in the heart of Spain was transformed into a hotel in the 1970s. 

Parador Sigüenza Castle: Source: José Ibañez/wikimedia

Situated atop a hill, with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, this castle-turned-hotel captures the imagination of all who visit. But behind its picturesque facade lies a haunting history that continues to captivate guests and locals alike.

The Guadalajara Province, where Parador Sigüenza Castle is located, is known for its rugged beauty and medieval charm. This region is steeped in history, with ancient castles and fortresses dotting the landscape. 

History of Castle of the Bishops of Sigüenza

The castle of the Bishops of Sigüenza, now the Parador Sigüenza Castle, is one such prominent landmark. The Castle Palace of the Bishops of Sigüenza is so called because it was the official residence of the Bishops until the middle of the 19th century. Its origins date back to the 12th century when it was constructed as a defensive stronghold. Over the centuries, it has witnessed numerous battles, political upheavals, and personal tragedies, all of which have contributed to its reputation as a place of restless spirits and ghostly encounters.

Throughout the centuries, the castle witnessed numerous battles and sieges, with each event leaving its mark on the fortress. From the War of Spanish Succession to the Napoleonic invasion, the castle endured a series of turbulent times. These historical events have since become intertwined with the castle’s haunted reputation, as the spirits of those who perished during these conflicts are said to still wander its halls.

More than once the guests staying in the hotel have claimed to have seen ghosts. 

The Lady in White of the Castle

One of the most famous ghost stories associated with Parador Sigüenza Castle is the tale of the “Lady in White.” According to witnesses, a ghostly figure dressed in a flowing white gown has been spotted wandering the castle’s corridors late at night. Some believe this apparition to be the spirit of Doña Blanca de Borbón. 

Visitors have claimed to hear disembodied voices, whispers, and footsteps echoing through the empty halls. Some have even captured unexplained orbs and apparitions in their photographs.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories set in Haunted Castles and Fortresses

Numerous witnesses have reported seeing the Lady in White, with some claiming to have had direct interactions with her. Visitors have also described peculiar sensations, such as sudden drops in temperature and feelings of being watched. There are also those who claim to have been woken up in their sleep of the clanking of chains coming from the corridor. 

The Tragic Life and Death of Doña Blanca de Borbón

It is believed that the ghost haunting the former castle is that of Doña Blanca de Borbón (1339-1361). She was a French noblewoman and the Queen consort of Castile. According to the tales, Pedro I of Castile incarcerated his wife Doña Blanca in the castle in 1355, to prevent her from serving to aid the nobles who wanted to overthrow him. He was later nicknamed Pedro the Cruel. 

She never wanted the marriage, but was forced by her father as well as the rest of her family to accept her faith. Her husband already had a lover and she was already a widow with no wish for another marriage to a strange man. 

Her husband also did not want to marry her because the King of France had trouble paying for her dowry. But political plots made her and they were wed and their wedding ceremony was held in Valladolid. 

The marriage failed though and she was cast aside only three days into the sham marriage. He abandoned her and fled with his lover instead.

When civil war broke out in Castile though the king ordered her to go into hiding. She decided to leave the place she was confined to and took refuge in a Cathedral to organize her followers and finance her cause in spite of her husband. They were now on opposite sides. She was then confined to the castle for years before being transferred to El Puerto de Santa Maria to prevent her being released to the Aragonese side that was fighting against the Castile. 

She was eventually assassinated by poison by the Castile side, either from the King’s personal doctor or even by an arrow to her heart by a crossbowman that had just become a new warden. She only got to live for 25 years before  being used as a plot for territory amongst two strange nations. Her last words were:  “Tell me Castilla, what have I done to you?”

There are also those thinking that she actually died in the dungeon her husband threw her down in the castle, surrounded by his knights. His method was often with a blow to the head which is also one of the theories. 

It is said that ever since, she has been haunting the castle that she was confined to for years. Sobbing as she is dragging her chains across the floors of the oh so wonderful historic hotel. 

A visit to Parador Sigüenza Castle

Parador Sigüenza Castle stands as a testament to the rich history and supernatural allure of Spain. Its haunted past, filled with tragic love stories and restless spirits, continues to captivate the imaginations of visitors and researchers alike. Her final resting place is said to be one of the towers on the premise you still can visit for a 5 euro ticket. 

Whether you believe in the paranormal or simply appreciate the mystique of ancient castles, a visit to Parador Sigüenza Castle is sure to leave you with a sense of wonder and a newfound appreciation for the enduring power of legends. So, step through its gates, wander its haunted halls, and uncover the secrets that lie within. Just remember, you may not be the only one exploring the castle’s past.

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Blanca de Borbón – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre