Ceclavín is a municipality located on the banks of the Tagus river, which is northwest of the capital of Cáceres and shares a natural border with Portugal.
Thanks to the Ensenada cadastre, which is the oldest and most comprehensive survey available on the villages of the Crown of Castile from the mid-18th century, the importance of olive groves in the municipality is well known. In the town, there are 4 oil cellars that were run by cavalries. Those that still exist today are surrounded by olive trees that supplied the mills with their fruits. Also, there are the remains of the stones that processed the olives of this entire region.
Olive groves, in addition with the oil, is one of the main influences in the municipality’s economy, along with the vine and other fruit trees. However, the olive groves in Ceclavín are also part of something esoteric. What is little known is that there is an olive tree known as the Ánimas Olive Tree, which has a spooky myth surrounding it. Some neighbors claim that mysterious lights appear around the immediate vicinity of this particular olive tree.
They say that there was a woman who had an intense friendship with one of her friends. She then passed away and would supposedly appear to her friend, trying to convince her to carry out satanic-like rituals. One of these rituals was when they took a woman, who was a complete stranger, to the inside of a church. This woman was later found dead with her tongue removed.
As a result of this strange event, strange lights began to be seen, which is why the residents of the town believe that the spirits that appear around this olive tree belong to the souls of these friends. They believe they are protected by this olive tree, while they wait for a dignified burial and for their souls to rest.