PARIS, June 18 (Reuters): The tiny southern French hamlet of Bugarach has drawn scrutiny from a government sect watchdog over droves of visitors who believe it is the only place in the world that will survive a 2012 Apocalypse. A report by the watchdog, Miviludes, published on Wednesday said the picturesque village near Carcassonne should be monitored in the run-up to December 21, 2012, when many believe the world will end according to an ancient Mayan prophecy.
Miviludes was set up in 2002 to track the activity of sects, after a law passed the previous year made it an offence to abuse vulnerable people using heavy pressure techniques, meaning sects can be outlawed if there is evidence of fraud or abuse. Surrounded in legend for centuries, Bugarach and its rocky outcrop, the Pic de Bugarach, have attracted an influx of New Age visitors in recent months, pushing up property prices but also raising the threat of financial scams and psychological manipulation, Miviludes said in its report. “I think we need to be careful. We shouldn’t get paranoid, we know what happened in Waco, we know this kind of thinking can influence vulnerable people,” Miviludes president Georges Fenech said. Waco, Texas, made headlines in 1993 when federal agents raided the headquarters of the Branch Davidian movement leading to a 50-day siege. The building was burnt down when agents eventually tried to force their way in, leaving some 80 people dead.
Bugarach, with a population of just 200, has long been considered magical, partly due to what locals claim is an “upside-down mountain”. The Internet is awash with myths about the place — that the mountain is surrounded by a magnetic force, that it is the site of a concealed alien base, or even that it contains an underground access to another world.
Miviludes was set up in 2002 to track the activity of sects, after a law passed the previous year made it an offence to abuse vulnerable people using heavy pressure techniques, meaning sects can be outlawed if there is evidence of fraud or abuse. Surrounded in legend for centuries, Bugarach and its rocky outcrop, the Pic de Bugarach, have attracted an influx of New Age visitors in recent months, pushing up property prices but also raising the threat of financial scams and psychological manipulation, Miviludes said in its report. “I think we need to be careful. We shouldn’t get paranoid, we know what happened in Waco, we know this kind of thinking can influence vulnerable people,” Miviludes president Georges Fenech said. Waco, Texas, made headlines in 1993 when federal agents raided the headquarters of the Branch Davidian movement leading to a 50-day siege. The building was burnt down when agents eventually tried to force their way in, leaving some 80 people dead.
Bugarach, with a population of just 200, has long been considered magical, partly due to what locals claim is an “upside-down mountain”. The Internet is awash with myths about the place — that the mountain is surrounded by a magnetic force, that it is the site of a concealed alien base, or even that it contains an underground access to another world.
