Nov 29, 2012

­No room in the French village for Mayan apocalypse pilgrims

Aztec Calendar, an adaptation of the Mayan calendar, consisted of a 365-day agricultural calendar, as well as a 260-day sacred calendar.
Aztec Calendar, an adaptation of the Mayan calendar, consisted of a 365-day agricultural calendar, as well as a 260-day sacred calendar.
For anyone who is still in fear of the supposed apocalypse which will come with the end of the Mayan calendar a village in France may be your refuge. The modern Noah’s Ark established ahead of December 21st has local authorities concerned.

New Agers suggest the village of Bugarach at the foot of the French Pyrenees is the only place where people will be able to survive the upcoming Apocalypse, Spiegel Online reports.
The tiny village with a population of only 200 has become a Mecca for those who believe the world is about the end.
The mountain Pic de Bugarach is said to have magical powers and is believed to be a gate between worlds. Others believe that inside the mountain rest extra-terrestrials, who will come out and save humans they find on the spot.

Pilgrims have post dozens of photos and videos about their alleged contacts with the extra-terrestrials in the area to prove it’s truly a magical place.

The town's mayor, Jean-Pierre Delord, is afraid that soon the village will be overrun with Apocalypse pilgrims and make life their unsafe and disturb the locals. Residents fear mass suicides, sect meetings and the like.

"If you ask the mayor, there are supposed to be new hotels and wind turbines here soon," the owner of a local shop told Spiegel. "To attract tourists, he continues to bring us into the media, so they keep reheating the story when the rumors go cold."
The Mayor himself admitted that boosting the number of tourists to their area would be good for business, but there limits to everything.

"People who believe in the end of the world regularly write to me," Mayor Delord says. "I don't want to tell anyone how to live… but when hundreds of people storm our village, we won't be able to guarantee public safety anymore." He also says that real estate prices in the area have already risen substantially.
Bugarach, South of Carcassonne, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon, France. (Image from flickr.com / @tarball69)
Bugarach, South of Carcassonne, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon, France. (Image from flickr.com / @tarball69)