Tradition: Canarian Mythology, Spanish Mythology
Alternative Names: Catherine Lercaro
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Catalina Lercaro is a famous ghost said to haunt the former Lercaro family mansion in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. She was a young woman from a wealthy family of Genoese merchants who settled in Tenerife after the Castilian conquest. According to the legend, Catalina was forced into an arranged marriage with an older man who possessed considerable wealth and social standing. She did not love her intended husband and was deeply unhappy with the marriage planned for her.
On the day of her wedding, Catalina is said to have taken her own life by jumping into a pit in the courtyard of her family’s mansion. According to the legend, her death prevented her from receiving a Christian burial in a consecrated cemetery because suicide was considered a sin by the Catholic Church. Her body was supposedly buried in one of the rooms of the mansion instead.
Following Catalina’s death, her family abandoned the city and moved to La Orotava. However, the young woman’s spirit was said to remain behind, haunting the mansion where she had died. Visitors have reportedly seen her apparition wandering through its rooms and corridors, unable to leave the place associated with her tragic fate. The building later became the Museum of the History of Tenerife, and the legend of Catalina Lercaro continues to make it one of the Canary Islands’ best-known haunted locations.
Sources
“Catalina Lercaro.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Lercaro