Legends are literary compositions that narrate imaginary events, the basis of which may have historical data, fantastic characters, supernatural phenomena, among other elements.
For this reason, legends involve values, evoke emotions, interpret experiences, denounce or justify actions, explain natural phenomena and are, above all, resistant to change: they are transmitted from generation to generation mainly through the spoken word.
In addition to the rich symbolic content, useful to understand the idiosyncrasies of a particular culture, legends have important potential for shared entertainment. In this article we will specifically look at 10 of the most popular Spanish legends
There are numerous legends around the 19 autonomous communities that are part of Spain. Some of them are the product of stories of love and heartbreak, others help explain apparently supernatural phenomena, and Others date back to times as old as the Middle Ages
It is precisely their mystical and symbolic content that has allowed these narratives to endure over time. Below are 10 of the most representative legends from different Spanish towns.
1. The lovers of Teruel
In the east of Spain, in the community of Aragón, is the city of Teruel. One of the most representative churches of this town was renovated in the 16th century. During its remodeling, two mummified bodies were found, accompanied by a document that describes, in the words of Judge Domingo de Celada, the following: the bodies belonged to Isabel Segura and Juan Diego de Marcilla, whose falling in love had been prevented by their families
The condition for being together was that Diego de Marcilla became rich, so he decided to leave to make money and later return for Isabel. During her stay, Isabel’s father found another husband for her, whom she married the same year that Diego de Marcilla returned.
The impact of the latter was so great that he fell dead when he found out. At her funeral, Isabel gave him one last kiss, as a sign of guilt and reconciliation. As she did this, she fell dead onto Juan Diego’s corpse. To the surprise, The relatives decided to bury them together as a symbol of a belated approval of his love.
2. The mosque of Córdoba
In the city of Córdoba, in the community of Andalusia, it is said that a young Christian bought flowers for his lover, a beautiful young woman of Muslim origin. When he asked her to marry him, she also agreed to convert to Christianity, but her intention was prevented by some soldiers who murdered her on the same day she would be baptized.
like a castle, These soldiers chained the young man to the pillars of a mosque While chained, the young man shaped a small cross with his fingernail, which to this day can be seen in the marble of the column where he spent the rest of his days.
3. The island of San Borondón or San Brandán
Legend has it that the Canary archipelago, located off the northwest African coast, has an island that constantly appears and disappears. This island owes its name to Saint Brandán of Clonfert, better known as Saint Borondon, an Irishman who crossed the Atlantic Ocean for evangelical purposes.
Upon arriving at the island, I quickly defined it as an earthly paradise. But it turned out that other sailors could hardly locate it. It was an island that some claimed to have visited, while others, following the same directions, could not reach their destination. The mysterious disappearance of the island was later attributed to the thick fog that covered the region ; which is why it is known to this day as “the lost island,” “the enchanted island,” “the hidden island,” among others.
4. The Badajoz ravine
On the island of Tenerife, in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, there is a ravine known as the Barranco de Chamoco, or Barranco de Badajoz. It is a large canyon that, according to legend, has witnessed the presence of extraterrestrials, or angelic beings. There is even talk of satanic rituals and paranormal phenomena to which some studies have been dedicated.
The above comes from different lights and figures whose origin has not been explained by the neighbors. Some disappearances have also been attributed to him ; so much so that some specialists in paranormal phenomena have attributed activity similar to that attributed to the popular American Bermuda Triangle to the Badajoz Ravine.
5. The Devil’s Cross of Cuenca
In the city of Cuenca, located in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha, there lived a young man so seductive that he managed to conquer any woman he proposed to. His talents were questioned by the arrival of a foreign woman named Diana, who was attractive to men and women alike
Near the dates of all saints, the young man received a letter from Diana where she summoned him to the Hermitage of Cuenca. As soon as he began to physically approach her, Diana was transformed into a terrifying figure who laughed out loud and resembled the devil himself.
Seized with fear, the young man ran to a cross located outside the hermitage, and hugged it tightly. The devil chased him and immediately rushed towards the young man, managing to leave a mark on the cross that can be seen to this day. This is one of the most disturbing Spanish legends.
6. The witches of Zugarramurdi
There are different versions of this popular legend. They all refer to some witches who lived in the municipality of Zugarramurdi, in the province of Navarra. These gathered to worship an earth goddess that existed in different caves and meadows in the areas.
Furthermore, legend has it that they praised the protective spirits that made women possessors of various supernatural powers. This spirit was called Akerbeltz, which means “goat” in Basque. For this reason, the meetings in these caves were called Akelarre, which means “bastard’s meadow.”
7. The Curse of Ochate
In the city of Burgos there is an unpopulated town called Ochate, which today is known by many as a cursed town. Legend has it that this town is home to numerous paranormal events. after having gone through three tragedies
The first was the smallpox epidemic of 1860, where only 12 people in the same town managed to survive. Years later, the population recovered, but immediately, they fell prey to a deadly typhus epidemic. Finally, and after having been reestablished again, a cholera epidemic ended up wiping out the last settlers. What gave rise to the legend of the curse of Ochate is that, coincidentally, none of the neighboring towns and localities had gone through these same tragedies.
Starting in the 1970s, pigmentations began to appear on the walls and floor of a house located in Bélmez de la Moraleda, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, province of Jaén. These pigmentations took the shape of human faces, bodies and skeletons
Despite the inhabitants’ attempts to cover them with cement and other materials, these pigmentations continue to appear today. Legend has it that these apparitions correspond to the bodies buried in the medieval Arab cemetery found in the basement of the house, approximately 3 meters deep. Thus, the faces of Bélmez They have not only become an important Spanish legend, but also a topic of conversation among mystery lovers
9. Lake Banyoles
In the province of Girona, located in Catalonia, there is a lake called Estany de Banyoles, which is the largest in the entire community and one of the largest in Spain. Just as it happens in Loch Ness, legend has it that in Banyoles there is a dragon-shaped monster (it has thick skin, spikes, wings, fangs, large legs). There have been several attempts to find and kill him, from Charlemagne to an emperor with the help of the French minister Saint Emeterio
Likewise, neighbors said that this dragon is responsible for the disappearance of livestock, floods and earthquakes. In more recent times, disappearances of tourists and even airplanes have been attributed to this monster.
10. Malmuerta Castle
In the city of Córdoba, a community in Andalusia, there is a castle with a high tower called “Torre de la Malmuerta”. They say that in the 15th century, An aristocratic man fell in love with a young and beautiful woman, who could have been his granddaughter
Also interested in the man, the woman accepts his marriage proposal. But she was a woman highly coveted by other men, many of them younger than the aristocrat. This aroused jealousy in the future husband obsessives that finally led him to end the life of his beloved.
The judges determined that the young woman had been “malmuerta”, a victim of the unjust acts of her husband, who was sentenced to sell all his property and erect a tower called “torre de la malmuerta” in the house where he had committed the crime. in honor of the woman and as a sign of repentance.
11. The legend of the Basa de la Mora
La Basa de la Mora, officially known as “Ibón de Plan”, is a glacier water lake located in the Aragonese Pyrenees, at almost 2000 meters of altitude, between the towns of Plan and Saravillo, a place well known by mountaineers and lovers of rural tourism. Behind this beautiful place there is one of the most curious legends in the folklore of Aragon, which takes us back to the Middle Ages.
It is said that at the time when the rule of the Arabs extended throughout most of the Iberian Peninsula, practically reaching Aínsa, at the gates of the Pyrenees, a Moorish princess was ambushed by Christian troops and, after losing her entourage at the hands of the enemies, she began to run up the mountain, trusting that the undergrowth and the dense forest would help her escape.
After several hours trying to outwit the Christians by camouflaging with the vegetation and advancing without barely leaving the ground, the princess reached a place where the mountain lost its verticality and she could continue advancing saving strength, so she decided to continue on that side. . However, as she continued without daring to look up to see where she was going, when she realized that a mass of completely transparent and almost frozen water was beginning to surround her, it was already too late; The princess ended up in the mountain lake, where only the peaks around her witnessed her drowning.
Many centuries later, it is said that on the evening of the vigil of San Juan, any person of pure heart who goes up to the Basa de la Mora and washes his face in its waters, You can see the princess dancing on its crystalline surface covered by several snakes.
12. The Legend of Aldhara
This is one of the most well-known and popular Galician legends, which is saying a lot, because Galicia is home to a large amount of folklore. It is said that several centuries ago, There lived in a castle an old nobleman named Froyás, with two children, Egas and Aldara The latter was a pretty and still young maiden, and she had as her suitor Aras, the son of another noble family in the region. Everything seemed to indicate that they would soon get married.
However, one day at mealtime, Froyás noticed that his daughter was nowhere to be found, he called her for a long time, and soon began to mobilize both his son and his soldiers to search the castle. After a few minutes, one of his men informed him that he had seen Aldara leave through one of the portals and go to the river located at the foot of the mountain where the fortification was located. But after going there and searching the area, no one found a clue as to where the young woman was, so they sent a message to Aras castle explaining what had happened. But not even with the reinforcements of this other family of nobles were they able to find her after several days of searching.
Years passed, and almost everyone forgot about Aldhara, perhaps assuming she was dead after a bear attack Except Froyás and Egas, who continued to miss her greatly, but who were also resigned to the idea that she had died a long time ago.
One day, Egas went to the mountain to try to hunt a capercaillie, and just after getting his kill, he saw that in a meadow a few meters away a completely white doe was grazing. Such was the impression it made on the hunter that this It barely took him a while to load an arrow and shoot it, out of pure fear that the animal would flee and he would never see him again
It hit the doe squarely, which fell dead instantly, without even being able to take a step. But since Egas was alone and could not carry the bulky animal alone, she decided to cut off one of his legs, remember where she had left him, and return to the castle to seek help. When he arrived to meet his father, he went to show him the trophy, but at that moment they both saw, horrified, how out of Egas’s bag came not the leg of a deer, but the very white hand of a woman of high birth, and in one of her fingers a ring could be seen: the one Aldhara wore. They quickly ran to the meadow where Egas had killed the animal, and there they found Aldhara, dead on the grass and with only one hand.
