Tor, the small town in the Catalan Pyrenees, continues to receive tourists and curious people who want to see first-hand the scenes of the series based on the events that occurred on the dark mountain. This is called thanatotourism, visiting places related to crimes, sometimes solved or not. In this case, the ‘true crime’, the result of almost 30 years of research, has been available since last June on Atresplayer. The eight-episode documentary series delves into the dark history of the town of Tor, located on the border between Catalonia and Andorra. For more than a century, the few inhabitants have fought for ownership of the mountain. The conflicts and tensions between the neighbors ended with the death of three people.
With just 13 houses, a single street, a single bar and no coverage, the small town fills up with tourists on weekends and during these summer months. Something that the local residents of Tor don’t take very well, perhaps the reason being the number of curious people who come up to ask uncomfortable questions about the murders described in the docuseries.
What doesn’t sit well with them either is that there are media outlets talking about tourism in the town. Far from treating us kindly, its few neighbours almost kicked us out for simply taking the camera out of our car. They were tight-lipped and tired of visitors. They don’t care if you are a local or regional media outlet, they don’t want to talk even off camera. Because we must remember that this piece of mountain is private property, so if the neighbours see you taking photos or recording, they can kick you out not only from the town but from the mountain range.
A coming and going of tourists
The traffic on the road, or rather a forest track, that goes up to Tor is intense, especially at midday. Many mountain lovers come, in addition to visiting the scenes of the dark history of this mountain, to enjoy the great natural landscape, almost untouched, that surrounds the town. Visitors arrive on foot, by bicycle, by motorbike and most often by car, practically all of them four-wheel drive, due to the physiognomy of the terrain.
Those who are in favour of this tourism, as long as it is respectful, are the hoteliers of the surrounding villages. Mercè and Jordi, owners of the Hostal Montaña, located in Alins, tell us that they have noticed this ‘boom’ of tourists due to the series: “Especially from May to June, which was the start of the series, many fans of mortuary tourism, looking and looking for houses, characters…” Many even ask, with a little shame, for the room in which Carles Porta slept while filming the series: “We are delighted, the more reservations, the more people in the restaurant.”
In short, a population that will continue to be in the focus of crime scene fans, due to the success of series based on real events.
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