Sierra Nevada Myths

The daughter and shepherd decided to escape and, ifnecessary, to die before ever being apart. Night fell and the shepherd went insearch of his beloved.

Along the way a man who claimed to be the devil andwanted to offer his help gave him a broom so he could sweep the snow.

With broom in hand, the youth fled until he was near thepeak of the fortress, where the broom began to sweep alone and caused anavalanche, burying those who followed. The broom now remains there to sweep thesnow and cause landslides.

There are countless stories about Sierra Nevada and mythical characters that dwelled or walked in the area;the stories are often handed down through word of mouth by locals. Thefollowing are examples of these legends:

Devil’s Broom. Thestory goes that in ancient times, there was a castle in the Alpujarra, in whichlived a rich lord and his daughter, who guarded it as if it were a precioustreasure.

When she turned 20 years old, she was promised in marriageto a lord of the region, who had so much wealth and power but was equally asbrutal and did not realize she had fallen in love with a shepherd of the land.

Vacaro Lagoon. Wheretoday is the Laguna de Vacaro, in a distant time there was a very beautifulgarden, which a beautiful princess often went to to meet her lover. Aninfluential Muslim prince also loved her, but the love was not reciprocated.

One day, tired of being rejected and blinded by jealousy, theMuslim prince sought revenge and decided to kill his opponent. One night, whilefans were gathered, he consummated his revenge by cutting the heads off of thecouple, who then became black stones, which are still visible on one side ofthe lagoon.

Given this vision, the princess went to a club and began tomourn until they filled the garden, flooding together. After that she became arock. It is also said that sometimes terrible cries are heard coming from thebottom of the lake.