The Galtxagorriak (in plural) are some tiny men dressed in red trousers. These helpful spirits are quick, sharp, good and playful. Their master must keep them in a small box and these spirits will always be under his orders to help him doing whatever, even when it is nearly impossible. When the little box where they live is opened, they start flying around their master’s head asking him, time and time again, what they have to do. They spend the night doing what it was ordered to them and, in the morning, their task is always fulfilled to the joy of their master.

On the night of the 23 June, eve of Saint John’s day, if we place a small box on top of a bush, the Galtxagorriak will get inside and we will become their master.

When a wizard, a magician or a sorcerer does something extraordinary, the tradition says that it has been done thanks to the help of the Galtxagorriak.


A legend from the village of Kortezubi in the province of Biscay tells that a man bought some Galtxagorriak for some tasks. He opened the box and grave them those tasks and they did as ordered. Later, he grave them another task and they fulfilled it too. After fulfilling the third order, the Galtxagorriak asked their master what they had to do. The man was already tired of the tiny men so he asked them to bring a sieve full of water. As they could not do this task, they left.

In Zarautz, a farmer who owned some Galtxagorriak took part in an ox race. When he noticed that his rivals’ oxes dragged the stones around easily, he took out his Galtxagorriak and asked them for help. That way, his oxes passed the rivals’ ones and the farmer won the bet.