#eivissa

View of the islet Es Vedrà in Eivissa, Balearic Islands. Photo by MsLids on Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most well-known Eivissan legends says that a long time ago the islet of Es Vedrà was inhabited by a moody giant who caused fear among anyone who passed near the islet.

One day, two brothers named Joan and Toni went to the islet to pick rock samphire, a medicinal plant they needed to cure their ill father. After having tried all sorts of remedies without any luck, they were told their only hope was using rock samphire picked in Es Vedrà (the islet has been associated with religious and magical stories since antiquity). Even though they were very scared of the giant, they were decided to do anything to help their father.

They sailed on their boat to the islet, praying that the giant wouldn't notice them. But right as they were mooring their boat, the giant woke up and captured them. Every day, the giant sent Joan to fish octopus, his favourite meal. Meanwhile, he kept Toni imprisoned in a cave as a hostage, so Joan wouldn't be able to escape. The giant said he wouldn't free them until they Joan had fished all the octopus in the area, adding that if he didn't bring enough octopus, he would eat both brothers.

One day in which Joan could catch many octopus, he came up with an idea: he hurried up to fish as many octopus as he could in one day, but made sure to hide a sea urchin inside each octopus. As always, when he brought them to the giant, he ate them all in one bite. But this time the sea urchins caused him such a stomach ache, that he went to sleep. Then, the two brothers used the moment to tie up the giant's hands and feet and escape, taking with them a cure for their father.