The popularity of the celebration of the Anglo-Saxon festival of Halloween has also brought the importation of foreign monsters to Spain, leaving the popular Iberian bestiary cornered. Zombies, mummies, draculas or frankensteins fill Spanish costume parties, while few remember the fear instilled by the tragaldabas, the bogeyman or the cloudru. “Our monsters are in danger of disappearing because people no longer know them, nor do they know what their names are, nor what shape they have, nor where they live, nor what their customs are, nor how to live with them,” says Ana Cristina Herreros, author from the ‘Book of Spanish Monsters’ (Siruela), a detailed description of fantastic beings accompanied by popular tales from each region of Spain. «These monsters that are disappearing are the monsters of our oral tradition, the monsters that inhabited our caves, that sang next to a fountain or on the banks of the river, that bathed in our seas, that crossed our skies, that hid in our attics or made mischief in our kitchens. Our monsters disappear. They disappear, replaced by monsters manufactured by multinational leisure and consumer companies, cheap monsters that no longer have anything to do with us or our way of imagining,” notes the author. The following compilation is made from her work. The locations indicate the regions where the folk tales have been collected. The images have been generated with AI.Monsters of forests and caves Basque Country Basajaun The lord of the wild forests lives in the deepest part of the thickets of the Basque Country and Navarra. Being of great strength and size with a trunk leg, he is a protector of flocks and a discoverer of agriculture. The Cantabrian version is the ‘mosgoso’, and the Asturian version is the ‘busgosu’. Basque Country, Catalonia, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha Cyclops Gigantic shepherd ogre with only one eye on its forehead, enormous fangs and a lot of hair, fed on humans. Heir to Greek mythology, in the Peninsula it receives various names (‘ojancos’, ‘ojarancos’). Its companion, the ojáncana, eats babies. Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha Snake and snake Gigantic snake, the size of a person, sometimes with seven heads. He paralyzes with his gaze, strangles with his embrace and kills with the poison of his tongue. It appears just by naming it. Cantabria, La Rioja, Extremadura Dwarfs Small beings with an old appearance, dressed in green or red to go unnoticed and camouflage themselves among the foliage. Very hardworking in agriculture and mining, they are great experts in the secrets of the land. Insistent, heavy and grumpy, but grateful. Asturias, Castilla y León, Aragón, C. Valenciana Giant Huge beings with great physical strength and little intelligence, with long beards and hair. Due to their voracity, they can endanger lives in villages. However, they are grateful creatures, and are at the service of those who help them. Galicia, Castilla y León Werewolf Beings with man and wolf features, hair on the body and face, bloodshot eyes, highly developed fangs and claws on hands and feet. They suffer from their double condition of man and wolf. They kill sheep and decimate flocks. Extremadura, Navarra Lamia Although she looks like a woman, she has part of her body from another animal, often the feet of a mare, chicken or duck. He steals children and eats them. They live in caves or on the banks of a river. On the one hand they are refined and on the other they have superhuman strength. It is an heir to Greek mythology. Castilla-La Mancha Oricuerno Four-legged animal, a horse or a deer, with one horn, like the unicorn, or several, long and pointed. Appears and disappears mysteriously. Walk through the fields changing people’s sex if you wish…Monsters of fountains, rivers and seas Cantabria, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands Nymph Girls with strange habits, such as hanging clothes at night, spinning or contemplating themselves in a pond. They cause confusion just by looking at them. They punish men who seduce and then abandon women. Heir to Greek mythology, in Spain they are called water girls. Asturias, Catalonia, Murcia, Andalusia Mermaid Half woman, half fish. With their songs they enchant and lead men to perdition. They lose the sailor and are forced to take the wrong route to reach the port. It is heir to Greek mythology…Monsters of the skies Murcia Harpy Women with wings or birds with a woman’s head and sharp claws. It lets out a shrill cry that announces its presence. It devours children, especially liars. Heirs of Greek mythology. Asturias Cuélebre Huge snakes with bat wings that live in caves and guard a treasure or a maiden. They terrorize farmers by demanding that they feed them, often with human beings. Its weak point is the throat. Basque Country, Andalusia Dragon Being with enormous legs, a long neck and long tail, bat wings, crocodile scales, lion’s claws and enormous jaws through which it spits fire. Symbol of darkness, they live deep in caves. It is the symbol of evil in the fight of good against evil. Madrid Grifo Winged being with the body of a lion and the ability to speak with wisdom. Debora men. Heir to Egyptian and Greek mythology, in Spain he appears associated with a wise devil who knows the secrets of life and death. Asturias Nuberu For some a small man, for others a giant. Dirty, with singed clothes and a large hat that reveals that he is a foreigner and not a peasant. With his enormous clogs he makes the noise of thunder and with his tongs he launches the lightning of storms. They fall from the clouds…Monsters of houses and towns Castilla y León Tragaldabas Being gigantic, with a very large mouth to swallow, sometimes without teeth, and an appetite as big as them. They live in pantries, attics and in places where food is stored. It is not easy to get them out Galicia, Canary Islands, Castilla y León Duende Short in stature, sometimes he is an old man, sometimes he is a child. They appear wearing a peaked cap. Sometimes they do misdeeds that harm instead of help. The way to avoid their frenetic activity is to send them impossible tasks Balearic Islands, Murcia, Extremadura Fairy Women, sometimes old, other times young maidens. His job is to weave the destiny of men. They are heirs of the Fates of Roman mythology and the Fates of Greek mythology. Murcia Boogeyman Dark and dirty man, similar to a beggar, always with a sack on his shoulder. It is a monster of the 19th century, associated with the foreigner, a stranger who arrived loaded into the towns. He also associated himself with Sacamantecas, who took children to rip out their guts…
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