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Ten bizarre Spanish stories that are not April Fools' jokes

The Local Spain
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Ten bizarre Spanish stories that are not April Fools' jokes
Screen grab: La Sexta

These stories from Spain might all sound too strange to be true but actually are...

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'Here are some of Spain’s strangest stories - you might think they sound like April Fools, but they were all true! 

This is what happened when Spain restored an ancient castle 

Spain has some spectacular historical buildings but one architect was left red-faced after an attempt to lovingly restore an ancient Spanish castle ended in disaster. 

The Moorish castle ended up with an aesthetic more akin to a 1960s car park than a beautifully restored slice of Spanish history...


Screen grab: La Sexta 

Fart sparks shoot out between rival Spanish gypsy gangs 

It's not the most common way fights break out, but a huge brawl broke out between feuding neighbours in southern Spain after one broke wind within earshot of the other. 

The fracas erupted between gypsy clans in eastern Spain when a member of one family let rip while walking past a young man from the rival family... The young man returned the insult in the same way; by farting in his direction.

The situation quickly escalated with a wife of one the men joining the fray claiming she was insulted, and then the other man’s wife also getting involved, until guns were pulled and shots fired.

 


Photo: Policia Nacional 

Google translate error sees Galcian town celebrate Clitoris festival

The clitoris: a gastronomic delight typical of Galician cuisine, according to a town that promoted its local festival after using Google Translate.

Staff at As Pontes townhall in northwestern Spain were left red-faced in November after their town became world famous thanks to our coverage of an error that saw it advertising a gastronomic event celebrating a local leaf vegetable as a much more X-rated affair.

Exposed: Spanish actress faked Oscar glory

The invented life of Spanish actress Anna Allen was revealed when it emerged she had not actually attended the Oscars, but used Photoshop to place herself on the red carpet.

But the Oscar lie was just the tip of the iceberg as savvy social media users delved deeper it emerged she had faked other situations.

Strangely enough, she hasn’t been heard of since.

Galician builders replace neolithic tomb with picnic table

A group of Galician builders proved they were one sandwich short of a picnic when they confused a neolithic tomb with a broken stone picnic table and replaced the 6,000-year-old artefact with a brand spanking new concrete bench.

In what one archaeologist dubbed a "monumental error" the ancient tomb, that had heritage status and was therefore meant to be protected, has been completely destroyed.

Knock knock: Who’s bear?

An adventurous bear cub became an internet sensation after being snapped on a snowy doorstep in a small mountain village in Spain.

Oscar Montero, 26, who lives in the village of Prioro in the Picos de Europa mountains, was surprised when he looked out of the window one snowy February morning to discover the bear cub, making its way onto his snow-covered front step.  


The bear cub, sitting on Oscar Montero's front steps. Photo: Oscar Montero. 

Mum posts photo of her smoking baby on Instagram

A photograph of a baby smoking a cigarette uploaded to popular social networking site Instagram caused huge controversy in Spain.

The photograph showing an adult hand holding the lit cigarette to the baby’s mouth, was shared tens of thousands of times and sparked a debate on parenting.

"Tobacco is intrinsically even worse than heroin and to give it to a baby whose lungs are still developing...is just absolutely unbelievable" the head of Spain’s Association of Pediatricians told The Local.


Photo: lapelirrojah_delbarriooh/Instagram

Pets awarded equal rights to live alongside humans

In July a town in Spain became the first to recognize dogs and cats as "non-human residents" awarding them equal rights to co-exist alongside their human counterparts.

Trigueros del Valle, with a population of just 300, has become the first municipality in Spain to enshrine the rights of pets alongside those of human townsfolk.


Photo: AFP

Iceland revoked centuries-old order to 'kill Basques on sight'

In April, authorities in a small town on the west coast of Iceland finally revoked a 400-year-old order that allowed Basques to be killed on sight.

For the last four centuries people hailing from the Basque Country could have been legally hunted down and killed had they dared to step foot in Iceland.

But at last people hailing from the Basque country can feel welcome in Iceland.


Photo: Arnar Valdimarsson/Flickr

No pooing please

A village in northern Spain enjoyed a brief moment of infamy when it put up signs imploring pilgrims to stop pooping on their doorsteps when they pass through on their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

The signs were posted by residents in the hamlet of Lastres, in the Lugo province of Galicia who complain that pilgrims often "leave deposits" on their way through the village which lies on the Camino de Santiago – sometimes in the street right in front of their homes.


Photo: @anderinaki / Twitter

April Fools' bonus: Anti-sunburn drones to patrol Spanish beaches this summer 

And lastly, we've included our April Fools' story - which may just be the most believable of all the stories on this list.

Many of you were fooled when we wrote on April 1st that a pilot scheme in Spanish resorts would see drones used to patrol beaches and warn tourists who were at risk of burning. 

Unfortunately for the paler-skinned among us, it wasn't true.


Photo: AFP
 
To see all the stories the moment they are published why not 'like' The Local Spain Facebook page or follow @thelocalspain on Twitter. 

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