The 10 best Spanish legends (ancient and current)

The legends are a literary compositions that narrate imaginary events, whose base 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 phenomena of nature and are, above all, resistant to change: they are transmitted from generation to generation mainly through the word spoken.

In addition to the rich symbolic content, useful for learning about the idiosyncrasies of a particular culture, legends have significant potential for shared entertainment. In this article we will specifically look at 10 of the most popular Spanish legends.

• Related article: "Top 10 short legends (for kids and adults)"

The 10 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 go 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. Here are 10 of the most representative legends of different Spanish towns.

1. The lovers of Teruel

To the east of Spain, in the community of Aragon, is the city of Teruel. One of the most representative churches in this town was renovated in the 16th century. During its remodeling, two mummified bodies were found and accompanied by a document that describes, in words of Judge Domingo de Celada, the following: the bodies belonged to Isabel Segura and Juan Diego de Marcilla, whose infatuation she had been prevented by their families.

The condition for being together was that Diego de Marcilla became rich, so he decided to go off to make money and later return for Isabel. In the process, Isabel's father looked for another husband, 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. In doing this, she fell dead on the corpse of Juan Diego. To the surprise, the relatives decided to bury them together as a symbol of a belated approval of her love.

2. The Cordoba's mosque

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. By proposing to him, she also agreed to convert to Christianity, but her intention was prevented by soldiers who murdered her on the same day that she would be baptized.

Like castile, these soldiers chained the young man to the pillars of a mosque. While in chains, 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 Saint Brandán de Clonfert, better known as Saint Borondón, an Irishman who crossed the Atlantic Ocean for evangelical purposes.

Arriving on the island, he quickly defined it as an earthly paradise. But it turned out that other navigators could hardly locate her. It was an island that some claimed to have visited, while others, following the same directions, could not reach their destination. Later the mysterious disappearance of the island was attributed to the thick fog that covers the region; reason why it 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 great canyon that, according to legend, has witnessed the presence of aliens, 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 to the Barranco de Badajoz 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 who proposed. His gifts were questioned before 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 mentioned him in the Hermitage of Cuenca. As soon as he began her physical approach to her, Diana was turned into a terrifying figure that 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 launched himself towards the young man, managing to leave a mark on the cross that can still 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. All refer to some witches and witches who lived in the municipality of Zugarramurdi, in the province of Navarra. ÉThese gathered to worship an earth goddess that existed in different caves and meadows in the areas.

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

7. The curse of Ochate

There is an uninhabited town in the city of Burgos 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 survived in the same locality. Years later, the population recovered, but immediately, they fell prey to a deadly epidemic of typhus. Finally, and after being 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 villages had experienced these same tragedies.

8. The faces of Bélmez

Starting in the 1970s, pigmentation 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 attempts of the inhabitants 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 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 entire community and one of the largest in Spain. As in Loch Ness, legend has it that in Banyoles there is a monster shaped like a dragon (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, the 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 are attributed to this monster.

10. The castle of Malmuerta

In the city of Córdoba, community of Andalusia, there is a castle with a high tower called “Torre de la Malmuerta”. They say that in the fifteenth century, an aristocratic man fell in love with a beautiful young woman, who could have been his granddaughter.

Also interested in the man, the woman accepts her 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 obsessions that finally led him to end the life of his beloved.

The judges determined that the young woman had been "badly dead", a victim of the unjust acts of her husband, who was sentenced to sell all his properties of her and to erect a tower called "torre de la malmuerta" in the house where she had committed the crime, in honor of the woman and as a sign of repentance.