Catalan mythology comes to 3Cat with 'Beasts and Flames'

BarcelonaThe basilisk of Mataró, the blood-licking wolf of Sant Cugat, and the double-headed eagle of Tàrrega are just some of the festive beasts of Catalan folklore. Now, 3Cat aims to immerse viewers fully in the country's mythology with the premiere of the documentary series Beasts and Flames, which arrives on the platform this Friday and travels to different towns in Catalonia to meet the beasts of their popular festivals. Public television defines the project as "the first program about Catalan mythology, which, with balance and an original approach, blends folklore, history, humor, and festive beasts."

The new offering from the public television streaming service consists of eight 25-minute episodes, in which music teacher and communicator Neus Rossell visits gangs of devils and festive bestiaries in Catalonia to meet them and delve into their fable and the universe of associated mythology. The program will reveal the historical context of each of Rossell's discoveries through historian and journalist Enric Calpena, responsible for the podcast. On guard. For her part, Laia Baldevey will capture the fable of the beast in each chapter with illustrations.

Beasts and Flames It is a format created by screenwriter Aniol Florensa, who says the program was born as a response to his "atavistic need to bring the richness of our mythology to television." "Fantasy in general and Catalan folklore and mythology in particular fascinate me. The novels I write are usually thrillers "I use traditional stories with a touch of fantasy, adventure, or horror, and I always try to fascinate with the imagery of my stories. All this desire to entertain and, at the same time, to spread knowledge about tradition and folklore has led me to create and direct this format," says Florensa, who has worked on programs such as APM? either Card gameThe creator of the format assures that there is a lot of ignorance about Catalan mythology and that if the population knew more they would not go looking for mythological stories in other cultures such as the American or the Nordic ones.

Florensa points out that in Beasts and Flames They have put special emphasis on showing and explaining the lesser-known festive beasts, some of them recently created. "There are groups that have created beasts and fables associated with these beasts. These are the stories we wanted to bring closer so that the fable doesn't remain a thing of the past but of the present and the future. The desire to renew fables is what keeps mythology alive," he emphasizes. In this sense, chapter six, which is dedicated to dragons, includes the dragon Nomar from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, created in 2021 in homage to a group leader who died from COVID.

The first chapter of the program focuses on the basilisk of Mataró and was filmed during last year's celebration of the Saints' Day. The basilisk is a mythological creature that combines traits of different animals and, according to legend, was born after a rooster took the egg. The beast has the body of a rooster, the skin of a toad, and the tail of a snake, and in the Middle Ages, it was believed to be able to petrify a person with its gaze. Other beasts seen in this first season include the Tarasca from Barcelona, ​​​​the Abraxas rooster from Palau-solità and Plegamans, and the phylloxera from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia.