Cortijo Jurado
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The Cortijo Jurado, or Casa Encantada as it is known, is a 19th-century
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
that lies in ruins just off the A-357 near Campanillas Village in
Málaga Province Málaga (; ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia and the sixth most populous in the c ...
(
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
). It enjoys the reputation as being one of the most
haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...
s in the Province. The 45,206 square metres of land that makes up the Cortijo estate is estimated to be worth almost 1.4 million euros.


History

The mansion was built in the 19th century by the influential Heredia family from
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, one of
Andalucia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It i ...
’s wealthiest families at the time. The building boasts 365 windows, one for each day of the year and was constructed as a
cortijo A ''cortijo'' is a type of traditional rural dwelling (akin to the German ''Bauernhof'', also known as a farmhouse in English) in the southern half of Spain, including all of Andalusia and parts of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha.Alcalá Venc ...
as part of a plan to convert the
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
into a grand
agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
enterprise. In 1925, the property passed to its new owners, the Jurado family. It is known in Málaga as ‘the haunted mansion’, not only for its
ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
ly appearance, but due to numerous reports of mysterious voices and strange sounds that have been reportedly heard there without explanation. It is among the best known ‘haunted’ buildings in Spain and is considered a sort of
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
by followers of
paranormal phenomena Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
. Legend has it that the Heredia family, together with other rich families in the area, kidnapped young girls, aged between 18 and 21, and subjected them to sinister satanic rituals, involving
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
and
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
. The bodies of their victims are said to be buried deep within the property. Whilst it is true that many young girls did disappear during this period, nothing was ever proven to connect their disappearance to the Heredia family. Many say they used their money and influence to evade
justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
. Whatever the truth of the matter, paranormal enthusiasts maintain that the pain and suffering that took place within those grim walls has led to inexplicable ghostly phenomena.


Recent history

In 2002, Málaga Council approved a proposal submitted by the Mirador group to build a four-star
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
complex in the grounds of the Cortijo Jurado and to renovate the original building to provide a cultural edifice, open to the public. In December, 2004, the construction licence was issued and a high-profile event was arranged, during which Málaga's Mayor,
Francisco de la Torre Francisco de la Torre (c. 1460 – c. 1504) was a Spanish composer mainly active in the Kingdom of Naples. His hometown may have been Seville. His music can be found in ''La música en la corte de los Reyes Musulmanes'', edited by Higinio Anglé ...
, laid the symbolic
foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
to inaugurate the commencement of the project. Four years later, not a single brick has been laid. Since then, the Mirador group has faced a number of
lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
s from clients to whom they sold properties which were never built. The courts froze the lands of the Cortijo to protect
debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...
s of over five million euros, most of which is owed to Promociones Pantie, from whom Mirador secured the
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
for this property. Málaga Council is also owed 365,000 euros by the Mirador group. Málaga Council then contentiously extended the building licence for the original project when it expired in December 2008. In February 2009, opposition councillor, Antonio Serrano, of the ‘ United Left’, lodged an official complaint accusing the town hall of
bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
and abuse of power in relation to their dealings with the Mirador group. One of the main issues raised by Serrano was the fact that the
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
had waived the obligatory ten per cent fee for the building licence, which in this case was 900,000 euros. The town hall defended its position by claiming that the regulations had not come into force at the time the agreement was signed. In May 2009 a Málaga judge ordered the troubled property group, Mirador, who own the property to sell it by
public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...
, on May 11, at the behest of one of the group's principal
creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some propert ...
s, Promociones Pantie. The auction did not go through due to an administrative error.Curse of Cortijo Jurado strikes again, The Euro Weekly News, Thurs May 21, 200

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References

{{coord missing, Spain Province of Málaga Houses in Spain Buildings and structures in Andalusia