Once upon a time, in the beautiful village of Bellver de Cerdanya , there was a girl named Aldonça Rossa . Despite being only twelve years old, she was already very brave and smart, and her father sent her to buy and sell products so that she could take some money home. On one of these trips, while going to Puigcerdà to sell a hen and hemp seeds, he found a woman in the middle of the road. The woman introduced herself as the witch Juanga and told her the wonders she did: she flew, created potions, summoned magical beings and cursed whoever did the trick to her… She did magic! The girl, amazed, didn’t think twice and accepted the proposal of the witch Juanga: to leave behind her sad and humble life to become a witch like her. Aldonça did it, but without realizing that the price to get the new life was too high… He had to renounce God, the Virgin and all the saints in order to sell his soul to the same devil.
Once she became a witch, she returned to Bellver to begin her new life. But, by chance or not, she met another woman. This time it was a healer who taught her how to cure mumps. So she returned to Bellver and, thanks to what she had learned along the way, he worked as a healer. Her success was huge and people came from all over to see Bellver’s witch – the name by which she was known.
Her fortune was as great as her popularity, until a neighbor reported her to the Holy Inquisition . During the interrogation that took place in the Casa de la Vila in Plaça Major , she confessed to being a witch and explained that she flew over the Malniu lake at night with her companions. In the end, it all ended more or less well. She was forbidden to practice both witchcraft and medicine if she wanted to stay alive. Aldonça was still alive, yes, but she lost her fame, her job and her fortune.
