Villa Winter

Near the village of Morro Jable on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, there stands the Villa Winter, a squat, dilapidated manor, surrounded by empty space all around. The strangely remote villa would be eerie enough on its own, but the rumors of secret Nazi activity during World War II make it all the more spooky. 

Built around 1937, the home was the work of German engineer Gustav Winter. While some websites list him as a top member of the Nazi party, information about his actual relationship with the Reich is scarce, but what seems to be agreed upon is that he built the house in heavily enforced secrecy. He built a road out into the barren expanse near the (at the time) tiny fishing village of Morro Jable, and created the two-story villa with a workforce that was guarded by day and escorted away at night. The bizarrely isolated home was styled like a classical villa complete with columned arches and a small tower.

The actual goings on at the Villa are unknown, but a number of legends have attached themselves to the home. Fueled by reports of thick cables that lead from the home out to sea, and an overly large fuse box in the tower, a popular legend holds that the home was just a cover for a secret underground submarine base. The abundance of natural caves, known existence of German submarines in the area during the war, and general secrecy surrounding the place don’t help either. It is also rumored that the remote home was a waypoint where Nazi party members would head to undergo plastic surgery before fleeing to South America.

Whatever the truth is behind the Villa Winter, it still stands in the same isolated spot it always has, reluctant to give up its secrets. Reaching the villa is still difficult, requiring a long trip down an ill-kept dirt road. Today Morro Jable is a bustling resort town, and the villa is still manned by a caretaker who is said to let visitors explore the space for a small fee. Maybe one of them will one day find that hidden submarine port.