Much has been said and discussed about the impending end of the world Mayan apocalypse on December 21, four days short of Christmas Day. But it seems there is one place on Earth, the town of Bugarach in France, which can offer refuge when that catastrophic day does incur.

The bad news is - the town will be sealed to the outside world right smack on dooms day.

According to an article by Time Magazine, the 179-man population of Bugarach, located south-west of France, is the only place on the whole of planet Earth that will be spared on December 21 from the impending onslaught of Armageddon's end of the world prediction contained in the Mayan apocalypse.

But why specifically Bugarach?

"It was grabbed on to because this is a place where there's nothing, so you can easily project your fantasies on to it. It's like filling a balloon with air," Nicolas D'Estienne d'Orves, a French novelist, who released a book on Bugarach titled The Village of the End of the World, said. he admitted though that it had been extremely "impossible" to get to the bottom of the Mayan Bugarach rumor.

But Jean-Pierre Delord, the town's mayor, believed Bugarach's association to the Mayan apocalypse predictions lies on the town's mountain.

"It's all about the mountain," Mr Delord said, referring to the 4,300-foot tall Pic de Bugarach. The mountain had been attributed to a lot of UFO-sighting stories, while some say the mountain holds an alien garage as it emits strange gurgling sounds, presumed to be extraterrestrials waiting to be unleashed on December 21.

As far as two years ago, Mr Delord had mapped plans to maintain the peace and order of his area, including placing special security measures to protect Bugarach from the expected influx of news agencies, esoteric outsiders and even Doomsday fanatics.

The mayor had also ordered that Bugarach will be closed to tourists four days prior to December 21, even as local press had reported the people of Bugarach had cashed in on the hype. According to The Telegraph, one enterprising landowner saw great financial opportunity by offering out his four-bedroom house, situated on the slopes ofBugarach, for rent for 1500 euros a night. There's also an open field for campers, cheaper at 400 euros.

"I possess a rare asset, the land of immortality," the owner was quoted as saying in La Depeche du Midi.