Spooky places that are frighteningly fun

1/9 Do Penance!

Another of our places with a spooky past is the Casa Cayitas, in Alcantarilla. A coat-of-arms with the cross, sword and laurel announces that the Inquisition's District Court was installed here during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It currently houses the Municipal Archives, and is also used as an exhibition hall.

2/9 Between Walls

The walls of the Castillo de la Concepción (castle) in Cartagena, now home to the Cartagena History Interpretation Center, harbors another terrible secret. Apparently, a lady was buried alive in its walls by her husband, an Italian nobleman who could not bear the fact that his love was unrequited. Ever since then there are those who claim to have seen nocturnal apparitions of the ill-fated woman.

3/9 The Magic Mountain

Mt. Arabí is another key site for lovers of mysteries. Currently protected as a natural park, this enclave on the High Plain is a popular place with hikers and mountaineers, with truly stunning landscapes and an important set of cave paintings. It's also one of the most magical ones. Many people have sensed a special energy field there. Ancient people chose these mountains to perform rituals in them. Glowing spheres have also been sighted in the area, and there have been appearances of female figures in luminescent robes.

The most popular legend in this part of Yecla is that of the Cueva de los Tesoros, or Cave of Treasures. Legend has it that after making their way through a maze of narrow passages ones reaches a door guarded by two armed sentinels behind whom a magnificent treasure awaits.

4/9 The Haunted Theater

Even in the very capital of the Region of Murcia, the downtown Teatro Romea (theater) has its own curse, owing to the expropriation of the land on which it was built from the friars of Santo Domingo (St Dominic), who augured three fires. A first one struck in 1877, and another in 1899. According to legend, the third fire will break out when the theater is full to capacity. For this curious reason, one or two tickets are always left unsold. Until this prophecy is fulfilled, it is best to take the opportunity to enjoy guided tours and great shows at one of the most emblematic theaters in Spain.

5/9 A Moorish Ghost

El Salto del Usero de Bullas, a natural pool of revitalizing waters and lush nature during the day, transforms at night into a site where, according to legend, the specter of a Moorish woman relives her dramatic fate, over and over again, drowning in this pool for her love of a Christian. On the magical Noche de San Juan (Night of St. John), the traditional "Bajada de la Mora" is celebrated, drawing hundreds of people, who gather at this magical place at the stroke of midnight.

On the same night next to the Benamor River in Moratalla they say that the spirit of the Princess Ordelina appears, condemned to wander for all eternity for breaking her marriage vow to the noble Sigiberto and marrying Hiliberto, his rival.

In the Caravaca village of Barranda they tell the tale about La Encantada de la Tosquilla, a young and pale girl with bright eyes whose curse can only be lifted if one has the patience to completely wind up a thread of red wool that always appears next to her.

In Águilas there is also a legend linked to a missing woman. There is the well of la encatá, also called the well of la mora (Moorish woman). Legend has it that, if someone approaches this well (located in the vicinity of Cejo de la Peñarrubia) on the day of the summer solstice in a leap year, near the olive trees that surround this well, just when the shadow of the limestone cliff occupies a certain place, which the tradition does not reveal, a figure appears described as ravishingly beautiful, carrying a pitcher of water and eagerly waiting for someone to come help her. If, despite her strange garb, we approach her to talk to her, she will only make one wish: a kiss. And, who could deny such a beautiful creature, according to the legend, her request for a kiss? But once one does, her semblance transforms into one of immense sadness, darkness sets in, and the figure, as if swallowed by the earth, disappears for another four-year wait. This is when whoever has dared to approach her realizes that he has been in the presence of a ghost, perhaps a Moorish princess. No one knows what kind of spell was cast on her, eternally punishing her for her beauty.

6/9 The Ghost Train

In the town of Portman, south of the mining municipality of La Union, is the José Maestre tunnel, an old 2-kilometer passageway that until the 1980s was used to transport minerals. Today, next to the dark entrance of the abandoned tunnel the remnants of old locomotives and cars remain. This iron graveyard, along with the ruins of the old barracks, the mud, and abundant, wild vegetation create a natural sight capable of giving anyone goosebumps.

7/9 Mount Ope

Ope is Archena's highest and most iconic hill, and it is also the most emblematic of those surrounding the municipality. It is crowned by a cross that can be spotted from any point in the area. But... why is there a cross on top of Mount Ope?

They say that on a rainy winter afternoon a shepherd once went up on Mount Ope to gather snails, and he found a small lamb. He threw it over his shoulders, but it gradually grew heavier and heavier, exhausting him. The little lamb had transformed into a sheep, and suddenly said to the shepherd, in a grave and eerie voice, like something from beyond the grave: "the farther you take me, the more I will weigh you down."

Horrified, the shepherd dropped what by then was a huge, black-haired sheep that turned out to be the devil taking the form of a faun. The creature bounded away uphill, leaving behind it a foul-smelling, sulphurous trail as it emitted a creepy cackle.

The shepherd fled in terror back to the town, where he told the people what had happened. The word quickly spread and reached the ears of the priest, who decided that the hill had to be purified through exorcisms and capped with a cross to rid it of the demonic presence. And so it was that a wooden cross was built, and, together, the townspeople and the priest carried it to the top of Mt. Ope, where it was erected to protect the town of Archena and its inhabitants.

The Ope Cross remains atop the hill, though now it is no longer made of wood, but rather of iron. The new cross made of this new material came about after the war, between 1940 and 1941, upon the initiative of an Archena resident who had made a promise to replace it if he managed to return to his village after having been imprisoned during the war. Ever since then, thanks to the durability of its iron, it has never been necessary to replace the cross.

8/9 The White Mare

In Águilas there is also another magical place rich in legends. In the municipality, Yegua Blanca is the name given to a large white stone reminiscent of a mare, a horse that was climbing the foothills of the Bas ridge at the approximate elevation of La Pinilla.

Legend has it that, in the middle of La Reconquista, a Moorish prince or caliph was fleeing from these lands, fervently pursued by a group of Christian knights. During his flight the prince only took his most beloved goods: his wife, a beautiful woman in black garments and veils, his treasures, and his two best steeds: a black sorrel and a white mare, ridden by his wife and carrying part of his treasures.

But the prince, who knew the arts of sorcery, seeing himself besieged by his persecutors, dismounted from his horse, took his treasures and his princess off it, lit a candle, and uttered a spell that only he knew, while turning around seven times counterclockwise while holding the candle in his left hand. The earth then opened under his feet, and a staircase with fourteen steps appeared. The prince/wizard had his wife go down the stairs, with his treasures, and then quickly turned around in the opposite direction, closing the secret entrance. To remember the exact place he cast another spell: touching the mare, he turned it to stone. Then, seeing that his pursuers were hot on his trail, as they appeared amidst the rockrose and rosemary on the mountain slopes, he mounted his black sorrel and, wrapped in a black cloak, disappeared into the night.

The locals say that the bravest young men, those who dare to approach the white stone at night, amidst the whispers of the wind, can still hear the beautiful princess's cries.

9/9 Other Haunted Places

Other sites, such as the Castle of Benizar, the Cathedral of Cartagena, Caravaca and its Knights Templar, the ghost town of Las Murtas, the Orphanage of the Valley... are all destinations where there may still be something that lingers, refusing to go away; mysterious places that, although they give us goosebumps, also provide the material for us to enjoy a good scary story at night.

Visit them, if you dare, but always take the necessary precautionary measures, taking into account the risks involved in visiting abandoned and above all, cursed sites... we won’t be responsible for the consequences.

Boo!