The health measures imposed by the pandemic, in conjunction with the fall of November 1 at the beginning of the week, have ended up consolidating a trend in recent years: that of the spacing of visits to the cemeteries of the municipality of Murcia on the occasion of the All Saints’ Day holiday. It remains to be seen whether, with the epidemiological alert fully overcome and with the arrival of the holiday on Wednesday, there will once again be a queue at the entrances to the cemeteries during the previous days – especially on the weekend – or if visitors return. to crowd around the municipal cemetery of Nuestro Padre Jesús de Espinardo during the day that the calendar indicates in red.
The Murcia City Council has chosen to return to work with the idea that there will be a sustained influx for several days and, therefore, it has arranged a police device that will start next Saturday. In total, 369 agents will guarantee orderly access and parking for the thousands of visitors expected both in the municipal cemetery and in the 33 parish and communal ones.
Thus, in Espinardo, from the 28th, a total of 119 police officers will serve. The interior car park of the premises can be entered through the west and north doors, while the doors located to the south will remain closed to vehicles. In addition, the removal of materials that until now closed the Canteras road has also been carried out, as well as its cleaning so that it can be used to organize the circulation out of the cemetery in the direction of a high-capacity road such as the Costera Norte. , allowing more fluid traffic. The rest of the agents, members who belong to the District II and III Police Stations, will act in the cemeteries of the districts between October 29 and November 1.
On the other hand, and in response to this new trend, it has been decided to extend the opening hours of the Nuestra Padre Jesús cemetery, which can be accessed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on October 27 and 28 and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting Sunday, October 29, due to the time change next weekend, to facilitate visits and cleaning tasks. Likewise, the presence of a Red Cross ambulance has been planned at the gates of this cemetery with two toilets working continuously from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from next Sunday to Wednesday.
Special public transport service
Regarding public transport, a special service has been planned between the Glorieta and the main necropolis of the municipality for next Tuesday and Wednesday. Thus, on the 31st, line 44 will make its usual stops, with departures from the center at 9:30, 11, 12:30, 3:10 and 5:10 p.m.; while departures from the cemetery are scheduled three quarters of an hour after these frequencies. On day 1, the special service will start at 9 in the morning, with departures to Espinardo at 9:30, 10:05, 10:30, 11:45, 12:05, 12:30, 1:30, 3:25 and 4:45 p.m., with return times also 45 minutes longer. late.
Regarding sanitary, sanitation and cleaning services, three groups of portable toilets will be enabled to increase the capacity of the Espinardo cemetery’s own toilets, starting on Saturday and an exhaustive cleaning of the environment is being carried out, where Eight containers will be located, with a capacity of 1,700 liters, while another thirty will be distributed throughout the rest of the cemeteries.
Also related to these issues, the City Council has once again launched a campaign to prevent the proliferation of mosquitoes due to the presence of accumulated water in the cemeteries of the municipality of Murcia, given the high temperatures that have been recorded for years during these dates. The Lokímica company, concessionaire of the municipal pest control service, is carrying out treatments every Friday prior to the celebration and will promote the use of absorbent sponges for flowers by distributing units and providing advice to users.
Regarding the sale of these flowers, almost 40 stalls in the municipality have been authorized this year by the Department of Tourism, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, which will be distributed throughout the different cemeteries.
Finally, regarding religious services, the chapel will remain open to the public between October 28 and November 1 and will close one hour before the doors close. In addition, on Wednesday there will be a lyrical concert at 11 a.m., which will be sponsored by the Funeraria de Jesús and will take place near the chapel. At noon mass will be celebrated by the Bishop of the Diocese in the Plaza de Jesús. Various council departments have collaborated in the preparation of this special device, led by the Department of Social Welfare, Family and Health, directed by councilor Pilar Torres, who is responsible for the management of the cemetery.
A map to know the history of the cemetery
This year, municipal sources point out, there has not been time to conclude the visitor guide corresponding to 2023, which has been prepared for almost a decade by the professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Murcia Klaus Schriewer, in collaboration with the City Council. Yes, a hand map has been designed that will be distributed at the gates of the Espinardo cemetery, on November 1 with three of the most significant routes: Murcian emigrants, Writers and artists and Murcian women in memory, so that visitors can carry out these tours independently and learn about the unique features of the Murcia municipal cemetery.
It will be from November 19 when guided tours begin, which will take place from 11 in the morning and will last approximately one hour. Groups are limited to a maximum of 30 people and will be led by a tour guide and Professor Schriewer.
«Necrotourism is a tourism that has quite a tradition in Europe and in the Anglo-Saxon world, not so in Spain, where it is in an incipient phase, but, of course, our municipality with this cemetery has a great exponent of it, so We also encourage people to come and learn about the history that is written among the streets, among the pantheons, tombs that we have here behind us,” concluded the mayor of Tourism, Commerce and Consumption, Jesús Pacheco.
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