Clippings From Spain & Spanish Forteana

[drjbrennan]

Visiting the Costa Blanca this summer and wondered if any Forteans can suggest unusual places to visit. The only Spanish Fortean site I can think of is Belmez and I don't know where in Spain it is.

Any ideas?

 

[rynner2]

Belmez - about 25 miles NW of Cordoba, according to my atlas!

 

[James_H]

I recently visited the astonishing Montserrat in Catalunya. Apparently some of the Nazis believed the Holy Grail is located there. Can't say I saw it.

EDIT:

In 880, it was said that a light floated down the mountains for six Saturdays in a row. When a search party headed by a bishop went to investigate, they found that the light fell on a previously undiscovered cave. Inside the cave, completely intact, was a statue of the Virgin Mary allegedly made in 50 AD. The statue soon attracted pilgrims and monks, and a monastery was eventually established in the mountain. Nicknamed “The Black Madonna,” the figure is venerated as the patron saint of Catalonia.

Also, like many a holy mountain, it is a hotspot for UFOs. There are also strange disappearances associated with the site.

In recent decades, Montserrat has become a hotspot for seeing UFOs and strange lights in the sky. The mountain’s also been the site of some pretty strange disappearances over the years, some of which involved paranormal and UFO enthusiasts. In 1973, the Civil Guard (Spain’s national police force) found the body of a badly decomposed woman in the area. In a note in her pocket, the woman had written that she was going to meet with the supreme being. Her death was ruled a suicide.

 

[James_H]

For a different area of Spain, Washington Irving's Tales Of The Alhambra (he was US ambassador to Spain for a time and actually insisted on living in the crumbling palace) contains quite a few stories of the ghosts of the moors of Granada.

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

We're off to Barcelona next month, can anybody recommend anything unusual, Fortean, odd to do or see while we're there?

The only definite we've got on our list so far is the big ol' church.

 

[James_H]

We're off to Barcelona next month, can anybody recommend anything unusual, Fortean, odd to do or see while we're there?

See above, go to Montserrat. It's about an hour by train, a stunning place and you get to go on a cablecar too. There's a black madonna of mysterious provenance and it's supposedly the site of many a UFO.

 

[SimonBurchell]

I recently visited the astonishing Montserrat in Catalunya. Apparently some of the Nazis believed the Holy Grail is located there. Can't say I saw it.

EDIT:

Also, like many a holy mountain, it is a hotspot for UFOs. There are also strange disappearances associated with the site.

There's another claim for the Holy Grail at Valencia Cathedral, you can't get too close to it, but it is on display.

 

[SimonBurchell]

See above, go to Montserrat. It's about an hour by train, a stunning place and you get to go on a cablecar too. There's a black madonna of mysterious provenance and it's supposedly the site of many a UFO.

Montserrat is fantastic, great walking around there too.

 

[SimonBurchell]

Also, Oviedo Cathedral has the Sudarium of Oviedo, said to be the cloth that covered Jesus' face after he died. I was in Oviedo a few years ago and had no idea it was there, so didn't go to see its chapel (I wouldn't have been able to see the relic in any case; apparently it is only displayed to the public three times per year).