A law in the tiny town of Lanjarón, Spain, gives the death penalty a whole new meaning. That's because it’s illegal for residents to die there. In 1999, former mayor Jose Rubio put a law into place that urged citizens of Lanjarón “to take utmost care of their health so they don’t die until town hall takes the necessary steps to acquire land suitable for our deceased to rest in peace.” According to reports at the time, the mayor was being pressured to rapidly resolve an overcrowding problem in a local cemetery, even though it had been an issue plaguing the town for years. His solution was to prohibit people from dying in the town. “I am just a mayor,” he said. “Above me there is God, who is ultimately the one who runs things.” Rubio went on to say that everyone had seen the humor in the proclamation. It’s unclear whether the town ever got its expanded cemetery, but 26 years later, Lanjarón still only has one graveyard. Home to almost 4,000 residents, it’s best known as a wellness destination, thanks to nearby mineral-rich springs. While it’s certainly a drastic approach to death, Rubio is far from the only mayor to prohibit dying in a town. In Longyearbyen, Norway, residents are also forbidden to die — and have been since 1950. In the 20th century, researchers discovered that the deceased were not sleeping soundly six feet under — as a matter of fact, they weren’t decomposing at all due to the region’s subarctic climate.
