This was a leper colony that never came to be.

The idea had taken root toward the twilight of the Spanish Civil War. This arid, windswept stretch of Tenerife's east coast had been deemed the perfect locale for housing Spain's lepers during a time when the disease ran rampant, with nearly 200 cases on Tenerife alone. No one lived here; the major population centers lay to the north. It was conveniently out of sight.

The plan was to build a village colony, to be overseen by Franco's military. Everything was nearly in place... just as scientists uncovered Dapsone, a groundbreaking drug that revolutionized treatment and reshaped the world for those suffering from leprosy. The leper colony became an obsolete concept.

Now it stands in stoic silence above Abades, a ghostly town with houses, barracks, and structures that appeared custom-made for shops that were never to be. There are broken beds in small chambers, exposed wires, and graffiti that defiled the buildings.

Navigating its deserted avenues and labyrinthine corridors feels akin to stumbling into a scene from "The Walking Dead." As for what transpires here after nightfall, I cannot say, nor do I harbor any intentions of finding out, even though it occasionally serves as a venue for raves; not everything here is eerie.