The Legend of the Witches of Llers Castle and the Vampire, Conde Estruch of Catalonia

Was there an iberian vampire before the European vampire panic in Eastern Europe? Who was really Conde Estruch, the vampire of Catalonia, and what happened to the witches of Llers Castle the count was said to use as his lair.

In the dark hills of Catalonia, where forests cling to ancient stone and the cold Tramuntana del Canigó wind sings, stories about witches and vampires haunt the old ruins still standing. Like the supposed haunted ruins of Llers Castle, located in the highest part of the town of the same name, in the province of Girona close to the French border.

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Spain

Unlike many modern portrayals of the vampire, the legend of Conde Estruch is as mysterious as its origins. Is it an old remnant from Catalan lore, or is it actually a modern invention built on old fears?

The Noble Origin of Conde Estruch

Was there an iberian vampire before the European vampire panic in Eastern Europe? Who was really Conde Estruch, the vampire of Catalonia, and what happened to the witches of Llers Castle the count was said to use as his lair. — *Imaginary portrait of King Alfonso II of Aragon (1157-1196)*

Let’s go back to what most outlets, articles and books tell us today about the mysterious and deadly vampire Conde Estruch. According to Catalan mythology, Conde Estruch was once a nobleman of high standing. The count is sometimes known as Arnald, Guifred or Wilfred Estruch and lived in the 12th century under King Alfons II of Aragon.

The king sent the elderly count on a mission to Llers Castle, located in the Empordà region of Catalonia, to fight against paganism and witchcraft. He was killed during the mission to convert the locals at the castle in 1173. Some say it was by witchcraft, cursing him to come back as something monstrous. Some say that it was because of his own sins and way of life he didn’t die peacefully, but was turned into something demonic, something vampiric.

Soon after his burial, the villagers began to notice eerie signs. Livestock were found drained of blood without trace of injury. Crops failed in one field while others thrived. According to legend, the count, now returned as a young man, attacked the villagers, sucking their blood dry. He also seduced and impregnated women who gave birth to monstrous stillborns.

This went on for years. There are several theories about what finally stopped him. Some say that an elderly nun slayed him. Others say it was a Jewish hermit who used ancient rituals from the Kabbalah.

The Truth Behind the Myth

How much of this old legend from Catalonia is true though? Did such a count exist in history? Did it even exist in old legends? There is talk about sources from the archives of Ripoll, but what exactly are these sources? According to author Salvador Sáinz who published his first book about the vampiric nobleman in 1991. There are those claiming that others have alluded to a vampiric being in this place before, like documents about the Jewish hermit who stopped the vampire, dating as far back as 1918. But after the loss of documents after the damages caused by the Civil War, it’s hard to say what’s true anymore. But when the local historian, Antoni Egea Codina went to search for evidence in the 90s, he found nothing.

As the author himself said in a blog comment: “I approach the novel as a fantasy story and I don’t intend to make anyone believe that Estruch existed. There was a legend that in the books was only four lines, no more, and I gave it an identity.” Source

He also wrote on his blog: I looked for a story set in our homeland and came across the legend of a certain Estruc. Reimagined as Count Estruch, a character of my own invention. Source

Some variant accounts, such as in popular Spanish media, place his activities in the early 13th century and depict him participating in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on July 16, 1212, serving as a knight in the Christian forces led by King Peter II of Aragon against the Almohad Caliphate. A variant of the legend, which took place in 1173, claims that Estruch was poisoned by his own captain, Benach.

The surname Estruch is of Catalan origin, derived from the Latin personal name “Astrucus”. It appears in medieval records but without clear ethnic specificity. It is however a common name among the medieval jews in the area, but no lord or other person is connected to this story as of yet.

In Occitania at that time, the Cathar heresy was deeply entrenched and stories about devils, witches and other monsters lurking. The story of the count does remind about another catalan tale though, that of the evil Count Arnau, who ended thanks to a nun.

Was the vampire tale actually a creation of fiction from one man rather than old lore from the community?

The Legend of Castle Llers

What about the castle, if the count wasn’t real, what about the lore of the castle? The castle is real and was from the 11th century with documentations from 1021. And when the supposed vampire and witch hunt happened, it coincided with a long line of Lords of Llers in more peaceful times than the legend suggests.

This castle was seriously damaged, first by the explosion of the powder magazine, caused by a spark from a smoker, and then in two bloody battles: the War of the Spanish Succession (1705-1716) and the Great War (1790-1795).

The worst disaster came with the Civil War. On February 8, 1938, Republican troops were retreating towards the border when they detonated 200 kilos of TNT stored in the church to prevent the ammunition to be used. The explosion had devastating effects, completely destroying the town. The force of the blast was such that only a large crater remained where the church had stood. Fortunately, the residents were warned, preventing a massacre, although the mayor perished.

The locals have recalled witch myths to the castle, but according to them, no one was talking about vampires until the books were published in 1991. It is currently being restored by the City Council and tourism is clearly using the vampiric legend that has grown around it.

The Witches of In Llers

But what about the witches of Llers, the legend said to have been around for centuries? Les Garrigues, the area between Llers and Avinyonet de Puigventós, is the setting for many tales of witches. During the 16th and 17th centuries, witch hunts in this area were intense, with trials and executions that left an indelible mark on popular culture.

It is a place where the Tramuntana del Canigó blows with great force in this place as there are no mountains shielding the town. As fast as 100 km per hour the wind can travel. When the cold and harsh Tramuntana wind blows, you can hear whispering about the witches who lived and live in those lands.

The sharp whistle of the wind, according to popular beliefs, was caused by the fury of these women. Legend says that the witches of Llers, when angered, caused numerous disasters and hailstorms throughout the Empordà plain that could destroy the crops. When the hailstorm was caused by a witch, it was believed that she would leave a strand of hair behind every stone.

It was said that only the sound of the Figueres bell tower could quell such damage and a special bell ringing would block their path in the sky. The witches, unwilling to be defeated by the ringing of the bell tower, gathered together with the intention of bringing it down one New Years Eve. The bell ringer, sensing something was amiss, climbed the tower to check that everything was in order. When he reached the top, he saw a swarm of witches riding their broomsticks toward him. He then began to ring the bells incessantly; the noise and the battle were terrible, but in the end, the bell ringer managed to defeat the witches. But their attack created a fissure that would remain until the Civil War when the tower came down.

According to some authors, like Joan Guillament in the 1976 book Bruixeria a Catalunya, there were rumours about witches into the late 1800s. One particular incident happened to a 72 year old woman who died in 1878, thought to be a witch by the villagers, causing problems for her four daughters and their reputation.

Spanish Vampirism

So was it all just a figment of certain people’s imagination, or was the iberian vampire actually a collective idea and fear? It seems as with most cultures, the Spanish people have their tales of vampiric beings.

In Asturia they have Guaxa. In Cantabrian they have Guajona, a blood-sucking hag from nearby Cantabrian folklore known for preying on sleeping victims without killing them. Whether to treat the two as the same entity with different names is uncertain.

Another Catalan “legend” is that of the Dips, a name given to a type of vampire dog that supposedly existed in meadows located a few kilometers south of Reus. It is even claimed that for this reason there is a town called Pratdip.

A Pale Shadow in the Hills

Today the legend of Conde Estruch survives mostly in books and in the debate online if he was or wasn’t a real figure. The castle was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War and the historical documents about the legend are still not found. However, it seems like the legend has just started to take root. Several sites serve the story as an old legend rather than a modern fiction story. The legend of the catalonian vampire, it seems, is expanding.

Llers celebrates its connection to these stories through the Fes-te Bruixa fair. In the wild hills of Catalonia, where mists rise at dusk and shadows gather where the path is lost, the story of witches and blood sucking monsters continues to be told.

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