Whoever stops by a cafe de la muerte goes, in addition to having a snack, to have a conversation with other parishioners about the experience of mortality . Trading trick? Undoubtedly, much must be removed to find an idea that attracts customers in this exorbitant consumer world, where everything seems to be invented.
However, the initiative's humanistic and philosophical contribution should be noted, as it offers a space to speak openly about the sometimes taboo subject of the end of life.
The idea came to a sociologist named Bernard Crettaz in the Swiss town of Vissoie , inspired by Catholic rituals such as the Day of the Dead and remembered teenage adventures in cemeteries. Thus was born the so-called Deadly Swiss Coffee Movement. The first evening took place in 2004, in the restaurant of a theater in the Swiss city of Neuchâtel.
The thing worked and in 2010 one of these sessions was organized in Paris, an experience that the British newspaper The Guardian reported . The article excited Londoner Jon Underwood, who was the ultimate promoter of the idea from various East London cafes and via the website deathcafe.com.
Currently, cafes of death can already be found in many countries, including Spain, where the pioneer was the A Coruña cafeteria El Hacedor de Charlas by organizing the first death café in 2014 . Others have been added later, such as the Mamia de Vitoria bakery.
