The Legend of Princess Cantara and Her Two Suitors
Alicante Folklore & Ghost Stories from Santa Bárbara Castle
High above Alicante, Santa Bárbara Castle sits on the peak of Mount Benacantil, its walls steeped in stories and legends. For as long as locals have been telling tales, they’ve whispered that this fortress is far more than stone and battlements. It is a place where love, jealousy, and tragedy seeped into the rock itself—and where the restless dead still wander.
Among the city’s most enduring pieces of folklore is the legend of Princess Cantara and her two suitors, a tale tightly woven through Alicante’s identity.
The Princess and the Challenge
During Moorish rule, the King’s daughter, Cantara, was admired by many, but her heart had already chosen.
She loved Ali, a gentle, poetic soul with nothing to offer but devotion and verses whispered beneath moonlit windows. The problem? Her father favoured a very different match: Almanzor, a celebrated warrior from Córdoba with riches, status and a reputation that made him popular with the court.
Unable to accept his daughter’s preference for the humble Ali, the King set a challenge worthy of legend. Each man was given a task:
- Almanzor was ordered to sail to distant lands and return with spices, treasures, and proof of his worth.
- Ali was commanded to carve a waterway from the mountains to bring fresh water down to the thirsty city. It was an impossible feat powered only by labour, grit, and quietly blooming love.
While Almanzor ventured towards India, Ali worked through the day and spent the evenings singing to Cantara, winning her heart with every poem. For her, the contest was already decided.
The Lovers’ Leap
Months later, Almanzor returned victorious—ships heaving with gold and silk—claiming he had completed his task first. The King declared him the winner. Cantara’s protests were dismissed and her tears ignored.
Ali chose not to make his Cantara’s life harder. Instead, heartbroken, he climbed to the highest point of the castle and cast himself from the cliffs. The story says his turbaned face struck the mountainside, imprinting the famous Cara del Moro, the stony profile that still watches over Alicante.
Cantara, shattered by grief, followed him moments later. Two lovers united in death, tumbling to the foot of Benacantil.
Some say the city was once known as Al-Cántara—a name forged from their own—before centuries of language and retelling shaped it into Alicante.
Ghosts Among the Ramparts
The legend doesn’t end with love and loss.
Visitors have claimed that Santa Bárbara Castle is one of the most haunted places in Alicante. After sunset, the corridors grow heavy with echoes. Some insist they’ve heard raised voices arguing in the dark, as though replaying the night the King’s decision fractured three destinies.
Others speak of a shadowed figure lingering near the battlements—the outline of a man in old robes staring down the mountainside, the way Ali once did.
But Cantara and Ali aren’t the castle’s only restless spirits.
The Wailing Governor
One of the most widely repeated ghost stories concerns Nicolás Peris, a governor who died defending the fortress during a bloody siege in 1256. Legend says he was found with the keys to the castle clutched so tightly in death that they had to sever his hand to retrieve them.
Locals claim that on certain nights, particularly at the full moon, you can still hear him keening through the passageways, mourning the fall of the stronghold he refused to abandon.
Where Myth Shapes the Mountain
Santa Bárbara Castle may be rooted in history, but its legends are the ones that wake up at night. Cantara’s tragedy stains the stone, Nicolás Peris howls through the chambers he failed to save, and the mountain itself bears the imprint of a grief no daylight can soften.