TonPlunged into the northern foothills SpainThe village of Trasmoz attracts thousands of tourists every year. For many people, the attraction is not the half-destroyed castle or the stunning mountain backdrop, but the peculiar quirks of history: Trasmoz is the only excommunicated and cursed village in Spain.
“So far, being excommunicated and cursed is not bad for us,” said Lola Ruiz Diaz, who lives all year round about 50 miles northwest of Zaragoza One of the 47 or so people of Trasmods. “It turns out that this is to our advantage.”
In summer, you can see up to 6,000 tourists come to the village in July to participate in the Witchcraft Festival and explore its little witchcraft Museum, and watch a repeat of the curse imposed on the village. Few villagers expected the unique status of Trasmods to become a tourist attraction. But twenty years ago, after the locals began to retell the stories that have changed and shaped Trasmoz over the years, a large number of fascinated tourists began to appear.
Its unorthodox past can be traced back to a series of quarrels that began more than 700 years ago. At the time, Trasmoz was a prosperous community of Christians, Jews, and Arabs, with a strong opponent: the neighboring Viruela Monastery.
In 1252, the dispute between the two people over whether the villagers could cut down the trees in the area for firewood reached its peak, leading the Abbot of the Abbey to demand that Trasmoz be expelled from the Catholic Church. “People can call it tantrums,” Ruiz said.
The second row appeared more than 250 years later, this time through the waterway leading to the nearby Moncayo Mountains. After the country’s nobles sided with Trasmods, the monastery retaliated. With the permission of the then Pope Julius II, the abbot recited the curse in Trasmoz’s poem. Hearing Ruiz’s words, the villagers got rid of the curse and life continued as usual. “In my opinion, the people of Trasmods didn’t take everything the monastery launched against them very seriously, because they were used to it,” she said.
Some people even tried to use the status of the village for their own benefit. Decades after Trasmoz was expelled from the parish, the guards of the castle began to secretly use the site to make counterfeit money. To explain the knocking, knocking, and other noises from the castle in the dead of night, they told people that witches appeared in the area.
“Of course, the strange sound is that they make counterfeit money,” Ruiz said. “The monastery took advantage of it and told people that Trasmoz was a village of witches.”
The reputation is dead. Trasmoz is known as a witchcraft village and sometimes has fatal consequences. The last local person accused of witchcraft was Joaquina Bona Sánchez. He was called Tía Casca. In 1860, he was accused of a series of deaths in the village and was thrown down a steep gorge.
Over time, Trasmoz—whether because of a curse or simply an echo of events across Spain—has fallen into recession.The castle was abandoned and the population of 700 people in Spain began to decrease afterwards Order the expulsion of Jews In 1492-followed by Muslims-and more recently, With the rise of urbanization.
However, this vicious circle stopped after local officials announced funding for the village to organize events aimed at celebrating its unique characteristics. One village honed its ceramic tradition, the other chose carpentry.
“We thought, what is Trasmoz famous for?” Ruiz said. The answer is immediate. “Witch.”
So every year Witchcraft Fair —— Or Witchcraft Festival-was born, full of tarot card readings, lotions made with local herbs, and ended with the coronation of a villager as the annual “witch”. “This is a way of restoring the connection between the village and the witch, and at the same time resuming the persecution suffered by these women,” Ruiz said.
This is a relaxed view of Trasmoz’s dark history, although some tourists take it more seriously. “People showed up in my house and asked me to get rid of evil eyes,” Ruiz said. Was named Witch of the Year in 2008. “But you won’t find that here.”
The mayor of Trasmoz, Jesús Andia, said that this festival has developed into one of the most attended festivals in northern Aragon. “In the beginning, it was iconic for the village,” he said. “But soon we realized that people really like it.”
In most cases, the residents of the village are open to promoting the idea of a long-term discord with the church. “A few people–very few people–personally think it doesn’t like it,” Andia said. “But everyone else in the municipality knows that these days, The village must insist on something Otherwise they are in danger of disappearing. “
Nearly eight centuries after Trasmoz was excommunicated, the relationship with the Veruela Monastery has eased, and the two sometimes jointly organize cultural events. There is almost no sign of turmoil in the Trasmoz church, where masses, baptisms and other ceremonies are held regularly. hold.
Even so, the villagers have no interest in approaching the Pope to see if the excommunication or the curse can be lifted. “We didn’t think about it, we wouldn’t do it,” Andia said. “Getting rid of it now is like erasing everything-I think future generations will never forgive us.”
