• Location: Galatzó Public Estate
• Title: Maria Enganxa
• Year: 2024
• Director: Luis Ortas

Main performers: Guiomar Caiado, Catalina Carrasco and Marta Gràcia
The legend of Maria Enganxa lives on the Galatzó stones
Cinema and Mallorcan oral tradition have joined forces in an exceptional setting. For four intense days, the historic Galatzó Houses were transformed into the set for a horror short film that revives one of the most unsettling figures in Balearic imaginary: Maria Enganxa.

The Galatzó well, where the spectre of Maria Enganxa dwells

The choice of location was not accidental. This large, traditional Mallorcan estate, or “predio,” preserves the essence of the great estates, the centre of economic and social activity in the countryside during the Middle Ages. The film crew, led by director Luis Ortas, took advantage of this protected space to imbue the film with an atmosphere of absolute realism.

The heart of the filming took place in the clastra (central courtyard), a cobbled space where time seems to stand still. At its centre, the imposing cistern becomes the silent protagonist and the gateway to the realm of darkness.

Other key spaces in the house served as backdrops:
• The tafona (olive oil mill): where the old stone cylinder, a rotating mechanism for grinding olives, stands out. Inside the mill, some elements are preserved, such as the beam press and the cuixeres (wooden troughs) inserted on both sides.
• The traditional kitchen: a space that retains the wood-fired oven and utensils such as clay pots. The room filters natural light from the courtyard, creating the perfect atmosphere for the winter tales.

Sa Madona forest: the lush Mediterranean woodland surrounding the estate completed the atmosphere of isolation and mystery.

The legend: the hook lurking in the depths

Who is Maria Enganxa? Oral tradition describes her as a spectre or creature in the shape of a woman who dwells at the bottom of wells. Her most distinctive feature is a hook or grappling hook that she uses to ensnare unsuspecting children who peer over the edge of the well, dragging them into the cold water, never to be seen again.

The short film explores the two sides of the myth:
• The historical version: the possibility that she was a real woman accused of witchcraft during the Inquisition, who, before being captured, threw herself into the well swearing eternal vengeance.
• The folk version: the one grandparents told to warn children about the dangers of wells.

Synopsis: Pig slaughter Day, winter 1975

The film transports us to Mallorca in 1975, during a pig slaughter Day. As the cold bites, a grandmother tells her grandchildren the story of the woman in the well. What begins as a game of dares between the cousins—Marina and Joana—ends in a terrifying encounter. In the silence of the backyard, a noise emerges from the depths… and the legend becomes flesh.

“I swear you won’t take me alive, I swear that from hell I will take your children…” — The echo of Maria Enganxa resounds once more in Galatzó.