Urban legends of Madrid.

Mysterious, exciting, frightening – urban legends are common in Madrid’s old town. You’ll hear about them mostly from the locals who remember these stories. By connecting them to historic events, these urban legends offer a deep insight into the history and culture of Madrid. Today we’ll talk about the most famous legends of Madrid. They’ll help you see this city in a new and unbelievable way. Which one do you believe?

A rather strange question at first glance can be heard in the conversation of the inhabitants of Madrid: “Are you a cat?” This word is used to describe natives to Madrid, who are nicknamed cats. The explanation is that throughout Spain, native Madrileños are called cats. XI. The Mairit was a city that was able to resist the Muslims during invasion with the help of a climber who managed to place Spain’s flag on the gates and earn all present’s admiration. This is the theory of the origin of Madrid’s name, which translates as “place of cats”. It all started long ago with a ditch (the actual “wall”) that neighbored the city and was called “gato de pared” (“cat of rock”), or gato, for short.To become a true Madrileno, you need to be born here. You can proudly answer “yes” to the silly question “are you a cat?” only when this has already been established.

This can be seen through the longevity of tragic love stories throughout all of history. The impressive building with seven chimneys in the Royal Square (Plaza del Rey) underwent a major restoration in the 19th century, during which the remains of a woman who died three centuries ago were found between the walls. Upon hearing the legend, locals were reminded of what they had heard from their grandparents. According to assumptions, young Helen lived here, the wife of an army captain, in love with King Philip II. When her husband died during the fighting she. The most incredible thing that’s happened is where her body disappeared. There are different theories around this disappearance – she might have died of grief after the death of her husband or from being unable to see the man she loved, or was it something else? There were rumors that she was pregnant with the king’s son, which was why she was driven away. People have seen a woman in white walking around the home numerous times. It is said her face looked west, and they believe she must be waiting for Philip II to return.

There are various explanations of the origin of the name ‘Malasaña’, but one story tells that a peasant woman married to a fisherman had to sell her woman’s ‘malas’ (meaning bad weather) in order to stay alive. One of the inhabitants of Madrid bought a house on this street. As they repaired the garden, they put fish in the pond and colored them with many colors. All this led to the gradual death of all the fish in the pond. The daughter of the owner of their house, Blanca, wanted to save this last inhabitant and so she moved him into their aquarium – making it her pet & caring for it. But, the fish never adapted to life in an aquarium and died soon after. This was a great tragedy for the father, who wanted to console his young daughter. To do this he decided to carve a relief of a fish on the front of their house. Wanting to help her change the girl focused on trying to find religion. Apparently this did not work. The girl was so consumed with sadness that she went to the monastery, which is what led the locals in Castile and Leon to call this street Calle del Pez. After a while, the locals started calling the building “The Fish”, and it became an official name. The goldfish still shows up on a house nearby.

The Canal Theatre is a hugely iconic and popular theater in Madrid, loved by locals and visitors alike. The Legent has supported the Teatro de la Zarzuela with the enjoyment it shares with Chamberí. This mythical village, whose territory was a forest area and meet place of various communities and sects, is located precisely where modern theater stands. This gave rise to many stories about ghosts that linger between the screens and on the stage, ghosting peeks from behind the curtains and shifting in dark corners.

This is a popular legend from the church of San Ginés in Madrid. There has been an urban legend that says a murder happened there in 1353 and as a result blessing the place with good luck. The robbery was committed by people who wanted to steal from the church and didn’t notice the person praying inside. They were blinded by their own greed. The man who tried to protect the church ended up losing his own head. His death sentence was used to punish the robbers. As a ghost, he’s still there now, living within the walls of the church to guard it and its parishioners from danger.

The institution of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía was once a dark and gloomy hospital, where death was more prominent than life. When this place first began, it was only a small hospital where the poor of the city came to die. There were so many deaths here over time that it eventually closed in 1965. After the Ministry of Culture took over the building, they started gradual restoration and an eventual transformation into a cultural landmark. This building has a really dark history and offers loads of spooky stories. They’re everywhere, especially on the main staircase, where some people say that you can hear voices or footsteps. Remember when there were constant power cut-offs, a ghost of an old man with a long beard sitting on a bench in the courtyard. The basement of this museum is one of the more sinister places and has a heavy energy. It’s enough to make you think about cannibalism, witchcraft, black magic, etc. Would love for someone to write a novel about it!