In the southern province of Granada, Spain, there is a small town that implemented a “no-death decree” over 20 years ago, prohibiting residents from dying in the town simply because the only cemetery in town is already overcrowded.
According to a report from the New York Post on July 29, the town called Lanjarón has a population of approximately 4,000 people and is renowned for its nearby mineral-rich hot springs.
The town has recently become a low-key tourist destination for the younger generation, especially as an alternative option to crowded Spanish hotspots like Barcelona and Majorca.
With people showing interest in the town, discussions on social media have reignited about the “no-death decree” issued by former mayor Jose Rubio in 1999, bringing attention back to this unusual ban.
Back then, due to the cemetery being overcrowded and presenting an unresolved issue for many years, Rubio was compelled to make a statement urging residents to “make every effort to take care of their health to avoid death until the town government takes necessary measures to acquire suitable land for our deceased to rest in peace.”
The decree stated “prohibiting death in Lanjarón,” making the policy very clear.
Rubio said, “I am just a mayor, above me is God who ultimately controls everything.” His implication was evidently that the ultimate ruler over life and death is God.
He also mentioned, “Everyone treats this decree with humor and strongly wishes to comply with it.”
After 26 years, the administrative area of Lanjarón still has only one cemetery, and it is currently unclear whether the town has expanded its burial grounds.
Although Lanjarón’s “no-death decree” may seem peculiar, it is not the world’s first town to implement such a ban. In the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen, this prohibition has been in effect for decades.
Longyearbyen is located on the Svalbard archipelago within the Arctic Circle, serving as the capital of the island and one of the northernmost inhabited places in the world. This small town has a population of over 2,000 people, with mining as its primary economic activity, while research and tourism are also steadily growing.
The climate in Longyearbyen is extremely cold, even the soil is permanently frozen. In such conditions, bodies do not decompose after burial, and viruses in the remains are preserved by the ice. If the permafrost were to melt in the future or if bodies were dug up by wildlife, viruses could potentially spread.
Canadian researchers who visited the town for studies once extracted the Spanish flu virus from the remains of a resident who died in 1918 and was buried there.
To prevent the spread of preserved viruses, Longyearbyen enacted a ban in 1950 prohibiting people from dying in the town. Those nearing death must be transported to mainland Norway to pass away. Even in cases of accidental deaths, individuals cannot be buried in the town.