Christmas is coming… we want to share with you something different! The legend of Apalpador

Although it is usual for us to share current technological topics in these articles, this time we want to tell you something different. It is the legend of Apalpador. This legend tells that on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, from the cold mountains of Galicia, an older, red-haired charcoal burner with a big belly, pipe and beret, comes down to visit the children. This character comes down to palpate the children’s bellies to check if they have eaten well during the year, he leaves them some chestnuts and maybe a gift, with wishes of happiness and food for the new year.

The words of the Apalpador were as follows: “Por seres obediente e estares ben alimentado, con estas castañas e este agasallo desexote fartura e bon ano” (For being obedient and being well fed, with these chestnuts and this gift I wish you abundance and good year). In this way, the legend of the Apalpador has provided a few lessons to children, such as the importance of healthy eating, behaving well and sharing.

This character was born many years ago in the mountains of O Courel in Pedrafita do Cebreiro, at a time of much poverty in rural Galicia, where chestnuts were a much more precious gift than today. The Apalpador is also known as the Galician Santa Claus, because in addition to making sure that the children had eaten, he also gave them gifts if they had behaved well during the course of the year. Although this legend was forgotten for a while, nowadays it has come back to life during the Christmas season.

We hope that this Christmas season the spirit of this legend will be present in every home!