This week, we’re talking all things spooky and creepy as we plan mid-term break and Hallowe’en getaways. We’ve already looked at an abandoned and haunted cemetery in Zagreb, Croatia, and the vampires of Santorini in Greece but if you were thinking of heading to Spain, fear not, for she, too, has her fair share of tales of the supernatural and ghosts and ghouls. If you find a vacation rental in Madrid, for example, you can head to the 19th century Palace of Linares (or Palacio de Linares), now known as the Casa de América, which is said to be very haunted due to the terrible things that supposedly once happened within its walls.
The palace was previously the family home of the Linares noble family and is now dedicated to pan-Hispanic films, lectures, and exhibits as the Casa de América. When work began in 1990 to convert the building into this multi-purpose cultural space, rumours of ghosts quickly began to spread, with reports of the sounds of footsteps, doors opening and closing, and crying and screams, in the supposedly empty palace. Most of these incidents were reported to take place near the strange life-size doll house located in the courtyard, which belonged to Raimunda, a little girl who was adopted by Marqués and Marquesa de Linares. The official reports and documents report that it was a happy home but the local legends (which researchers do hold to be untrue) that have cropped up tell a different story.
The palace was previously the family home of the Linares noble family and is now dedicated to pan-Hispanic films, lectures, and exhibits as the Casa de América. When work began in 1990 to convert the building into this multi-purpose cultural space, rumours of ghosts quickly began to spread, with reports of the sounds of footsteps, doors opening and closing, and crying and screams, in the supposedly empty palace. Most of these incidents were reported to take place near the strange life-size doll house located in the courtyard, which belonged to Raimunda, a little girl who was adopted by Marqués and Marquesa de Linares. The official reports and documents report that it was a happy home but the local legends (which researchers do hold to be untrue) that have cropped up tell a different story.
According to the legend, Raimunda was actually the biological child of the Marqués, who had been born of his relationship with a humble class girl that his father had tried to pull him away from by sending him to England for school. However, when his father died, he returned home, married the girl and Raimunda was born. While constructing the palace he found out why his father had been so against the union: the mother, also named Raimunda was actually his half-sister, the product of an affair between his father and a woman working at the tobacco factory in Madrid. Raimunda Junior was said to have been the product of this incestuous relationship and, therefore born deformed and with various illnesses. The couple, upon finding out the truth, then decided to try and kill the child with various (and increasingly sensationalised) versions of how they tried to go about that. The Marqués is also supposed to have killed himself in the palace after the death of his sister/wife and to have been laid to rest on the grounds.
All of this, however, is merely local myth, with many of the claims having been quickly disputed by documents and evidence: Raimunda Senior was not the daughter of a tobacco factory employee, the couple never had their own children and adopted Raimunda Junior, there is no evidence that they were related, and both parents were buried in well-attended ceremonies at cemeteries, ruling out the possibility that the Marqués could have ever been buried in the grounds of the palace. So, of course, none of these supposed tales of horror are actually true at all. However, the initial disturbances on the building site that inspired the wild speculation, which led to the creation of such macabre and fantastical tales, have made some suggest that the spooky incidents may be hauntings connected to buildings that previously occupied the site on which the palace is built. Whatever the case may be, it is still a beautiful gem filled with wonderful works of art. A guided tour at this time of year perfectly mixes creepy tales with the kind of artistic and cultural wealth that anyone can enjoy taking in while visiting a city. So, if you have found a vacation rental in Madrid and are exploring this lovely city in Spain over the next few weeks, be sure to set aside some time to pay a visit to this little gem that is well off the regular tourist path but well worth a look!
All of this, however, is merely local myth, with many of the claims having been quickly disputed by documents and evidence: Raimunda Senior was not the daughter of a tobacco factory employee, the couple never had their own children and adopted Raimunda Junior, there is no evidence that they were related, and both parents were buried in well-attended ceremonies at cemeteries, ruling out the possibility that the Marqués could have ever been buried in the grounds of the palace. So, of course, none of these supposed tales of horror are actually true at all. However, the initial disturbances on the building site that inspired the wild speculation, which led to the creation of such macabre and fantastical tales, have made some suggest that the spooky incidents may be hauntings connected to buildings that previously occupied the site on which the palace is built. Whatever the case may be, it is still a beautiful gem filled with wonderful works of art. A guided tour at this time of year perfectly mixes creepy tales with the kind of artistic and cultural wealth that anyone can enjoy taking in while visiting a city. So, if you have found a vacation rental in Madrid and are exploring this lovely city in Spain over the next few weeks, be sure to set aside some time to pay a visit to this little gem that is well off the regular tourist path but well worth a look!
