The unusual cemetery in a Malaga town where the dead are rumoured to be buried standing up

Cemeteries are often must-see places for travellers, especially if there are famous people buried there. There are pantheons, tombstones and niches with sculptures of great artistic quality that make these part of the cultural itinerary in many cities.

If there are the curious legends connected with cemeteries, it makes them all the more intriguing. This is certainly the case of the cemetery in Casabermeja in Malaga province, where it is said that the dead are buried standing up.

The town's cemetery dates back to the 18th century and it can be seen from the road, as the highest pantheons protrude above the normal level and this is where the legend started.

However, the true story is different: the cemetery became too small because the municipality was growing and a new one was built. However, locals did not want to be buried there because of its distance from God and the Church. King Carlos III issued an order that the burials would be in this place. However, to compensate for the distance, the niches began to be arranged around San Sebastián chapel, just as the houses in the village were arranged around the church, and a small inner citadel began to take shape.

The legend that the dead were buried standing is due to the architectural form of the niches in the San Sebastián cemetery, which are divided into three parts: a lower one for the deceased; a central one for the tombstone; and an upper one with decorations. Thus, when seen from a distance from the road, the pediments seem to indicate that the dead are buried standing upright, but in fact they are not.

The niches are rectangular in shape and are attached to each other in a variety of shapes and sizes. The doorways are decorated with all kinds of classical features, with a traditional finish based on rendering and white lime paint.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the cemetery was influenced by the development brought about by the new access to Malaga and many locals began to work on the construction. The ground was paved with pebbles and cement mortar and the pavements are paved with clay and brick paving.

The chapel has a triangular pediment and is crowned by a belfry. To one side is what used to be the autopsy room and there is also a space, in the form of a square, used to pay condolences to the relatives of the deceased.