Xochimilco, a district just south of Mexico City, is home to a number of artificial islands and canals, one of which was owned by a caretaker named Julian Santana Barrera. When Barrera discovered the body of a young girl in one of the canals near his island, he began to collect dolls to hang around the island to ward off any evil spirits, and to make the ghost of the young girl happy. The island, known as La Isla de las Munecas (the Island of Dolls), is now visited by thousands of tourists a year, who bring dolls to carry on Barrera’s tradition.