Directions The Xacias and the Fish-men (Legend)
According to the historian Antonio Ceniza, the Miño River as it passes through Chantada, Pantón, and O Saviñao could be the birthplace of the mermaid-like beings known as xacios, with the male versions referred to as fish-men (hombres-pez) and the females known as xacias.
Anxo Moure defines the xacias as being half woman, half fish. Sometimes they would emerge from the waters of the Miño River and the local boatmen would fall in love with them. However, if the xacias returned to their own community afterwards, they would not be well received there. In view of these descriptions, the xacias can be compared to similar mythological beings from other cultures, such as the xanas in the Spanish region of Asturias, the mermaids of the seafarers, and the selkies of Ireland, among others.
Their existence was described in 1929 by a priest named Ramón Castro from Vilar de Ortelle (Pantón), in his book entitled "Reseña histórico descriptiva de la parroquia de Vilar de Ortelle y su comarca" (A Descriptive Historical Summary of the Parish of Vilar de Ortelle and the Local Municipalities). That book includes the tale known as "Daughters of a Xacia", which is the subject of a mural with the same name found at the public school in Pantón. It was created as part of the project A Touch of Colour in Ribeira Sacra.
This is the story of a man who fell in love with a beautiful xacia, and she told him that if he baptised her, she would become human and marry him. They had several sons and daughters, who all loved to go swimming at every opportunity. For this reason, their father once became angry and shouted at them "Go away, you children of a xacia!" This led to a huge argument, and his wife ended up leaving and returning to her home beneath the river. When her husband went to find her, he found that the other xacios had killed her and torn her body apart because she had been baptised.