Giving witches their due in Benitachell

BENITACHELL town hall is organising a Nit de Bruixes (Witches Night) at 7.30pm this evening, Thursday August 27. 
The Culture department wished to draw attention, not only to the role of witches and their embodiment of the struggle for women’s emancipation, but also their legacy of folk knowledge. 
The evening is a family activity where the youngest members will be shown the Cova de les Bruixes (Witches’ Cave) archaeological site and take part in a workshop about medicinal plants. 
The Cova de les Bruixes encompasses all of the cultures that have left their mark on Benitachell, from the Iberians, Romans, the earliest Christians and the Moors. 
The cave adjoins a Moorish hamlet called Alabiar, first documented in 1277 when according to popular legend it was put about that the cave was inhabited by witches. 
According to local historians, this was ruse to keep away inquisitive and pious villagers from the cave which had become a hideout for smugglers and bandoleros.