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There are a number of places in the world that have tried to make dying illegal
but - as bizarre as it sounds – there is some logic in it
There are many things that are pretty universally frowned-upon, like murder and playing tunes out of your phone’s speakers on the bus
But kicking the bucket tends to be something relatively outside of our control – not that it’s stopped some places trying to outlaw it
Back in 1999, the mayor of a village in Granada, southern Spain
The edict was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek way of getting someone to pay attention to overcrowding at the local cemetery in Lanjaron
with Mayor Jose Rubio telling locals to ‘take utmost care of their health so they do not die until town hall takes the necessary steps to acquire land suitable for our deceased to rest in glory’
It added: "It is hereby forbidden to die in Lanjaron."
A similar thing happened six years later in a Brazilian town called Biritiba Mirim
where Mayor Roberto Pereira da Silva proposed outlawing death after becoming frustrated that there was no room to bury the dead
Locals found themselves at something of an impasse
as laws prohibited anyone from building a new cemetery – all thanks to a 2003 decree by the country’s environment council that banned new or expanded cemeteries in preservation areas
Pereira da Silva explained how ‘infractors will be held responsible for their acts’
calling on residents to take good care of their health ‘in order not to die’
The bill stated that 'offenders will be held responsible for their acts'
but it did not reveal what the punishment would be
"But can you think of a better marketing strategy..
to persuade the government to modify the environmental legislation that is barring us from building a new cemetery?"
While at least 20 towns within 100km of Biritiba Mirim faced the same problem
De Campos said no others had ordered locals not to die
there is a town in Svalbard called Longyearbyen that has mistakenly been reported to have outlawed dying
it's believed that it just poses a bit of a problem when it comes to burials
bodies struggle to decompose even when they're more than a century old - as researchers found when they gathered samples from the local cemetery
which contained victims of the 1918 influenza virus
An explanation from TheNorwayGuide says: "You will not be allowed to be buried on Svalbard due to the permafrost that prevents bodies from decaying
and people on the verge of death are usually flown to mainland Norway for better treatment."
Topics: World News
Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected].
the immortal residents of towns where it’s illegal to die are living in 3020
there are actual places around the world where it’s against the law to get yeeted from life
If anyone ever mentions life hacks – this is the greatest one
here are some spots where it’s illegal to die
The local cemetery here is too crowded, so the mayor of this village in Granada province banned death in 1999
and partly as a political move to grab eyeballs
as the area’s 4000 residents were advised to remain alive until municipal officials found a new graveyard
This beach town, renowned for its blue beaches and postcard vistas, has one tiny problem – the cemetery is totally full
the mayor at the time passed a law forbidding dying within the town limits as a means to bring attention to the ‘grave’ problem
the mayor of this Italian village passed a decree barring people from falling sick
It basically ordered the elderly to defy death
it was mostly a tongue in cheek way to hammer home the point that people should stay healthy
this seemed like one way the mayor could get people fit
This commune in south-western France is notable for having forbidden death by mayoral decree in 2008
threatening severe punishment for offenders
The move was a symbolic protest against a legal ruling preventing the town from enlarging the burial ground in the village
the Mayor of Cugnaux banned death after he was unable to get permission to open a new cemetery
The town has a population of around 17,000 residents
it was later granted permission to widen its local cemetery
that translates to ‘island dedicated to the gods’
To retain and maintain the purity of the place is so important that since 1878
no deaths or births have been permitted near it
There are still no cemeteries or hospitals on the island
it’s dying and being buried in a coffin that’s against the law in this hyper-cold region
the permafrost and freezing temperatures prevent the dead from decomposing
which means it retains all manner of transferable disease as well
Those nearing death are taken to different parts of Norway
the mayor of Biritiba-Mirim filed a public bill making it illegal for the people in the town to die
The punishments targeted relatives of people who die with fines and even jail in order to get more space for tombstones
As the town’s 50,000 grave sites had reached full capacity
crypts were starting to be shared – hence the extreme step
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