That Spain it’s a cursed country is a reality. Too much bad luck or bad decisions, depending on how you see it, bad rulers, people without action, and actions without the right people. Regarding today’s page, where we will talk about the romea curse, witchcraft has always occupied an endearing part of our society, it is only necessary to take a short walk through Granada to contemplate the continuous threats of the future towards those skilled people when it comes to dodging olive branches. -Bad future I see you-. Let’s see how you keep walking just as dignified and without concern. -As he is right… what would it cost me to give him a euro, you think-. But you continue.
Far from the oli branchvo, there are other types of beliefs related to curses or witchcraft. Without going too far, still every Good Friday some grandmothers or mothers teach prayers to remove the evil eye. Which has never called me atention. However, one ofThe things that have done so are the legendsfed by society to the point of surviving for over a hundred years.
Without no historical veracity, more than oral transmission or any related fact, develop together with the growth of the city. They give a small halo of light to the area and arouse the interest of people who, like me, believe that although their authenticity is not scientific, they make them part of the history and interest of a city.
In the mid-thirties of the 19th century, the well-known confiscation of mendizabal, declaring the various assets, rights and income of religious communities national property, which would affect both regular and secular clergy(1). With the aim that these lands go to public auction and could be – which were not – used both for the collection of money for the State and for the benefit of the peasantry.
In this context, in the city of Murcia, the expropriation of the ecclesiastical lands belonging to the Dominican monks was carried out, where today is located Santo Domingo square and Julián Romea squareold Dominican cemetery.
One of the interests of occupying this sacred space was the construction of a great theater for the city of Murciawhich would be renamed, years later, romea, on behalf of the Murcian actor. Undoubtedly, the construction of a building of such characteristics gave a leap of quality to the city of Murcia, Queen Elizabeth II coming to attend its inauguration (1)
The Church cursed the Romea
The construction of this new building in the center of the city was not well received by the monks who lived in Santo Domingo. Obfuscated, how could it be otherwise, by the withdrawal of land they owned around the monastery and the desecration of the sacred territory, legend has it that one of them came to curse the Murcian theater -with the Church we have run into-. The damn of the Dominican monk consisted of three fires. In the first of them no one would die. In the second two people would die. And in the third, with the theater completely full, the entire capacity would die. The monk took it seriously…
The legend of the curse survived for years in Murcia, until some time later two fires broke out in the theater. The first took place in 1877, because of a lamp and where no one would die, after the work “How it begins and how it ends” by José Echegaray (1). The second in 1899, during the performance of a zarzuela and where a person died, giving rise to a fame about a legend that extends to this day.
Since then, one of the legends most beautiful in Murcia survives among the local acquaintances. As a result of the two previous fires, and with the fear of a possible fire that fulfills the Dominican’s curse, the ticket seller always keeps a unsold ticketwith the sole purpose that the theater is never full of capacity and the monk’s prophecy cannot be produced.
After 118 years of the second tragedy, the legend of the theater has developed alongside it, endowing it with a magic and interest that today arouse the most curious when they are located in front of the building. Even the most indiscreet are surprised after the confirmation at the box office of the unsold ticket.
Located in the center of the city, it is one of the most important and famous theaters in Spain. One of the most emblematic buildings of the city of Murcia. Beats in every function. The little ones are surprised when, standing before him, they hear the Dominican legend. And at 155 years old, with his reserved seat, he is still alive together with a curse that, I hope and wish, will accompany him for many years.