The 12 best Spanish legends (ancient and current)

Spain is full of legends and old stories in which the symbolic and the magical come together.

Legends are literary compositions that narrate imaginary events, whose basis may have historical data, fantastic characters, supernatural phenomena, among other elements.

Therefore, 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 for learning about the idiosyncrasies of a particular culture, legends have an important potential for shared entertainment. In this article we will look specifically at 10 of the most popular Spanish legends.

The most popular Spanish legends

There are numerous legends around the 19 autonomous communities that make up 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 tales to endure over time. Here are 10 of the most representative legends from different Spanish localities.

1. The lovers of Teruel

In the east of Spain, in the community of Aragon, is the city of Teruel. One of the most representative churches of this town was reformed in the 16th century. During its remodeling, two mummified bodies were found and accompanied by a document describing, 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 them to be together was that Diego de Marcilla became rich, so he decided to leave to make money and some time later return for Isabel. Along the way, Isabel's father found her another husband, whom she married the same year that Diego de Marcilla returned.

The latter's shock was so great that he dropped dead upon learning of it. At the funeral, Isabel gave him a last kiss, as a sign of guilt and reconciliation. In doing so, she fell dead on Juan Diego's corpse. To their surprise, the relatives decided to bury them together, the relatives decided to bury them together as a symbol of a belated approval of their love.

2. The mosque of Cordoba

In the city of Cordoba, in the community of Andalusia, it is said that a young Christian man was buying flowers for his sweetheart, 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 soldiers who killed her the same day she was to be baptized.

As a punishment, the soldiers chained the young man to the pillars of a mosque.. While he was chained, the young man shaped a small cross with his fingernail, which to this day can be seen on 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 coast of Africa, has an island that constantly appears and disappears. This island owes its name to San Brandán de Clonfert, better known as San Borondón, an Irishman who crossed the Atlantic Ocean for evangelical purposes.

When they reached the island, they quickly defined it as a paradise on earth. 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, were unable to reach their destination. Subsequently, the mysterious disappearance of the island was attributed to the thick fog that covers the region, which is why it is known to this day.The island is known to this day as "the lost island", "the enchanted island", "the hidden island", among others.

4. The ravine of Badajoz

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 it.So much so that some specialists in paranormal phenomena have attributed to the Badajoz Ravine activity similar to that attributed to the popular American Bermuda Triangle.

5. The Devil's Cross of Cuenca

In the city of Cuenca, located in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha, lived a young man so seductive that he managed to conquer any woman he proposed to. His gifts were challenged by the arrival of a foreign woman named Diana a foreign woman by the name of Diana, who was attractive to men and women alike..

Near All Saints' Day, the young man received a letter from Diana summoning him to the Hermitage of Cuenca. As soon as he began his physical approach to her, Diana was transformed into a terrifying figure that laughed loudly and resembled the devil himself.

Seized by fear, the young man ran to a cross outside the hermitage and embraced her tightly. The devil chased him and immediately threw himself at the young man, leaving a mark on the cross that can still be seen today. This is one of the most disturbing Spanish legends.

6. The witches of Zugarramurdi

There are different versions of this popular legend. All of them refer to witches and warlocks who lived in the town of Zugarramurdi, in the province of Navarra. They met to worship a goddess of the earth, who existed in different caves that existed in different caves and meadows in the area.

In addition, legend has it that they praised the protective spirits that made the women possess various supernatural powers. This spirit was called Akerbeltz, which means "goat" in Basque. For the same reason, the meetings in these caves were called Akelarre, which means "meadow of the goat".

7. The curse of Ochate

In the city of Burgos there is an uninhabited locality called Ochate, which today is known by many as a cursed town. Legend has it that this town has been the site of numerous paranormal events after having gone through three tragedies.

The first was the smallpox epidemic of 1860, where only 12 people survived in the same locality. Years later, the population recovered, but then fell prey to a deadly typhus epidemic. Finally, and after having recovered 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 villages had experienced the same tragedies.

8. The faces of Bélmez

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 form of faces the form of human faces, bodies and skeletons..

Despite the attempts of the inhabitants to cover them with cement and other materials, these pigmentations continue to appear to this day. Legend has it that these appearances correspond to the bodies buried in the medieval Arab cemetery found in the subsoil of the house, approximately 3 meters deep. Thus, the faces of Bélmez have become not only an important Spanish legend, but also a topic of conversation among mystery lovers..

9. The lake of Banyoles

In the province of Girona, located in Catalonia, there is a lake called Estany de Banyoles, which is the largest in the whole community and one of the largest in Spain. As in Loch Ness, legend has it that in Banyoles there is a monster in the shape of a dragon (it has thick skin, fangs, wings, fangs, large legs). There have been several attempts to find it and kill it, from Charlemagne to an emperor with the help of the French minister San Emeterio..

The locals also said that this dragon is responsible for the disappearance of livestock, floods and earthquakes. In more recent times, disappearances of tourists and even airplanes are attributed to this monster.

10. The castle of Malmuerta

In the city of Cordoba, Andalusia, there is a castle with a high tower called "Torre de la Malmuerta". It is said that in the XV 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 accepted his marriage proposal. But this was a woman highly coveted by other men, many of them younger than the aristocrat. This awakened in the future husband an obsessive jealousy that finally led him to end the life of his beloved.

The judges determined that the young woman had been "malmuerta", victim of the unjust acts of her husband, who was sentenced to sell all his property and to erect a tower called "tower of the 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 (the Blackberry's Base)

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 above sea level. a glacier water lake located in the Aragonese Pyrenees, at almost 2000 meters of altitude, between the villages of Plan and Saravillo, a place well known by mountaineers and rural tourism lovers.between the villages 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 of the folklore of Aragon, which takes us back to the Middle Ages.

It is said that at the time when Arab rule extended over most of the Iberian Peninsula, reaching almost to Ainsa, 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, began to run up the mountain, confident that the undergrowth and dense forest would help her escape.

After several hours trying to outwit the Christians by camouflaging herself with the vegetation and advancing without hardly leaving the ground, the princess reached a place where the mountain lost its verticality and she could continue advancing saving her 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 totally transparent and almost frozen water began to surround her, it was too late; the princess ended up in the mountain lake, where only the peaks around her were witnesses of how she drowned.

Many centuries later, it is said that on the evening of the vigil of St. John, any pure-hearted person who climbs the Basa de la Mora and washes his face in its waters, can see the princess dancing on its crystalline surface.covered by several snakes.

12. The legend of Aldhara

This is one of the best known and most popular Galician legends, which is saying a lot, because Galicia is home to a great deal of folklore. It is said that several centuries ago, lived in a castle an old nobleman named Froyás, with two children, Egas and Aldara.. The latter was a pretty maiden and still young, and had as a suitor Aras, the son of another noble family of the region. Everything seemed to indicate that they would soon marry.

However, one day at lunchtime, Froyás noticed that his daughter was nowhere to be seen, called out to 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 leaving through one of the gates and heading towards 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 the castle of Aras explaining what had happened. But not even with the reinforcements of this other noble family did they manage to find her after several days of searching.

Years went by, and almost everyone forgot about Aldhara, perhaps considering her dead after a bear attack.. Except Froyás and Egas, who still missed her very much, but 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 he got his game, he saw a white doe grazing in a meadow a few meters away. Such was the impression it made on the hunter that he was so impressed that he He was so impressed that the hunter hardly took time to load an arrow and shoot it, out of pure fear that the animal would flee and he would not see it again..

It hit the doe, which fell dead on the spot, without even being able to take a step. But as Egas was alone and could not carry the bulky animal by himself, he decided to cut off one of its legs, remember where he had left it and return to the castle to seek help. When he reached his father, he went to show him the trophy, but at that moment they both saw with horror how from Egas' bag did not come out the leg of a doe, but the white hand of a woman of high birth, and on one of her fingers a ring could be seen: the one worn by Aldhara. Quickly they ran to the meadow where Egas had killed the animal, and there they found Aldhara, dead on the grass and with only one hand.