E-Paper
Are there really places where it’s illegal to die? Reasons behind death ban rules in global towns
Banning death might sound like a legal impossibility, but a handful of towns across the world have attempted to do just that.
Prefer HTon Google
It sounds like a premise straight out of satire or science fiction, but across the globe, there are towns that have banned dying. Far from being a quirk of eccentric leadership, these anti-death decrees are born out of desperate practical realities, including frozen landscapes where bodies refuse to decompose or overcrowded cemeteries. Here is a look at the places where death is officially forbidden.
1. Longyearbyen, Norway
In Longyearbyen, one of the coldest places on earth, it is illegal to die. The unusual law of this place exists for a very good reason. The law was enacted in 1950, after the authorities discovered that the corpses buried in the local graveyard weren’t decomposing due to the cold. Reportedly, live samples of the virus that caused the catastrophic 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic were also extracted from some of the bodies.
Since then, people nearing death in this town are flown to the mainland in Norway. In case someone dies in the town before reaching the mainland, the body is cremated. However, that includes a lengthy process.
Interestingly, not just death but giving birth is also illegal. It’s because the small place lacks proper medical facilities.
2. Le Lavandou, France
The Mediterranean town of Le Lavandou once issued a rule that stunned the whole world. The then-mayor Gil Bernardi stated that it was illegal to die there after the local cemetery ran out of space.
"It is forbidden for any person not in possession of a family vault to die on the village's territory," the order stated, reported the BBC in 2000.
"It is an absurd law enacted because of an absurd situation," Bernardi had said after issuing the ban.
3. Lanjarón, Spain
In the village of Lanjarón, Spain, it is technically illegal to die. Then-mayor José Rubio issued an official declaration in 1999 banning death in the town.
Rubio issued an edict, “It is hereby forbidden to die in Lanjarón”, after facing a full cemetery. “I am just a mayor,” Rubio explained at the time, adding, “Above me there is God, who is ultimately the one who runs things.”
