Spanish Sundown

Every year, the villagers in the remote mountain town of Navalosa in the province of Ávila dress as cucurrumachos for Carnival. They don loud cowbells and wooden masks with curved bull horns that sprout from the temples.

A fun game. Cucurrumachos don't really exist, after all.

Dani is lonely. Like a quicksand sinkhole in his gut, his loneliness consumes him from the inside out.

When Dani puts one of these bull horn masks on, it takes him back to 12th-century Spain. He meets the maker of the mask, a man from northern Spain who immigrated to Navalosa to repopulate the region after King Alphonse defeated the Moors.

This man shows Dani that cucurrumachos are real. He teaches Dani how to cure his loneliness.

A terrible, terrible cure.

Because once you call the cucurrumacho...it never leaves.

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1- See the location of Navalosa here.

2- Check out the Máscaravila webpage, the association that promotes this cultural tradition in many different villages all around the Gredos mountains in Ávila. If you're in the area during Carnival, right before Lent, you can see it in person.

3- I took some crazy video and photos of the festival while researching and recording for this episode. Still haunts my dreams. You can see it on Spanish Sundown’s webpage, or on Facebook or Instagram, where you can also join our online community.

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© 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

In 1915, Count José María del Palacio y Abárzuza stole a statuette of St. James the Greater from the grave of 15th-century Spanish royalty. In 1969, this figure appeared in the New York Met Museum.

How did it get there? The answer lies with the Count’s mansion: Beak Cliff House, or Palacio del Canto del Pico.

In today’s story, we meet David. David is a nice guy. Too nice. In a world where everyone always feels entitled to take, he gives.

When his snotty boss makes him hide a mysterious USB drive from the police, he embarks on a mission of corporate intrigue that takes him straight to the Count’s abandoned mansion.

There, he finds a statue of the Virgin Mary. The voices trapped inside show him the fate of the stolen Spanish artifact and introduce him to the Count, a weird little American man named Arthur Byne, and even William Randolph Hearst.

He stops giving.

Because David is entitled to take, too.

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1-A link to the New York Met page showing the catalog entry for the statuette of St. James the Greater, currently in the museum’s possession.

2-The official webpage of the Carthusian monastery in Miraflores where they recount the theft.

3-The location of Beak Cliff House or Palacio del Canto del Pico up on a cliff in Torrelodones, Madrid.

4-A picture of Arthur Byne with his weird little beard thing.

5-A picture of the Count as a young boy.

6-Los prodigios de Gillingham by José Francisco Rodil Lombardía. Our mansion, stolen loot, bribes to Francois collaborators and Nazi colluders all appear in this novel. See a summary here.

7-Check out video of the creepy mansion I took while recording and researching the episode. You can see it on Spanish Sundown’s webpage, or on Facebook or Instagram, where you can also join our online community.

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Subscribe to listen to friend podcast Counterbalance here! You can also check out their Facebook or Instagram.

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© 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

A strange little man is spying on Isa in Madrid's iconic Retiro Park.

It's Valentine's Day. And Isa hates Valentine's Day. Because people are trash.

When the tiny duende's hiding place is revealed, Isa is forced to join forces with a stranger and confront one of her greatest fears. The voices trapped in a magical flute take her on an action-packed journey to the 18th century, where she explores the Retiro when it was a private garden that belonged to King Phillip V. Why is this mad monarch turning into a frog?

In this Valentine's Day special brought to you one day early, Isa learns that not all humans are garbage. Some of them are pretty cool. One of them...might even be worthy of love.

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1-Remember that you can listen to Spanish Sundown on Apple!

2-The IMDb profile for La vida breve, a dramedy about King Phillip V's abdication to his son (hilarious).

3-The location of the duende in the Retiro. He sits on top of a cage that used to house live bears--a sort of "zoo" that I'm very glad doesn't exist anymore.

4-Check out video of the beautiful Retiro Park I took while researching and recording this episode (complete with the duende). You can see them on Spanish Sundown’s webpage, or on Facebook, Instagram or Reddit, where you can also join our online community.

© 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

“Normally, when you change the IV bag, you’re supposed to check the expiration date and contents, but in this case, well…we don’t really care now, do we?”

A nurse decides which patients need to atone for their sins, and why.

He’s on a righteous mission. Right? He’s doing the right thing. Isn’t he?

Yeah, he’s definitely doing what needs to be done.

For sure.

After finding a cilice that belonged to Friar Pedro de Alcántara, the voices trapped inside bring him back to 1562.

He joins the priest atop his donkey on a journey through the nighttime forest of Ávila, fighting off the demon of sleep. His only weapons are knotted cords of rope and prayers muttered through toothless gums.

Is this guy insane…or on the fast track to sainthood?

The voices teach our nurse that he might just be the one who needs atonement.

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1. Visit the Museum of Salamanca official website here and their IG account here.

2. Check out images of San Pedro de Alcántara and the surroundings I took while researching and recording this episode. You can see them on Spanish Sundown’s webpage, or on Facebook, Instagram or Reddit, where you can also join our online community.

© 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.

In the Duero Valley lie the ruins of a 4th-century Roman villa. In what used to be the home's entrance, there is an impeccably preserved mosaic of Pegasus.

But Pegasus has no wings.

Why?

This episode's character is a Latin translator who travels to the villa with his boss (and clingy romantic partner) for a work assignment, all while dealing with abnormal back pain. When he discovers a tablet with an ancient inscription, his boss strangely insists on ignoring it.

He also insists on our character never taking off the shiny black bracelet he gave him when they made things official. Even though it hurts his wrist. 

It turns out the voices are trapped inside this bracelet. They take us back to 409 AD, where we meet the final owner of the villa, at a time when the Alans, Visigoths, and Suebi are overrunning Hispania.

But the owner of the villa isn't concerned. Because Rome is unbeatable...right?

The power of the Roman god Mars, Christian beliefs and AI collide in a story spanning millennia. Discover with our character the true nature of the black bracelet he is not allowed to remove, where his back pain comes from, and why Pegasus doesn't have any wings.

 

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1. Visit the Museo de las villas romanas website here.

2. Take a look at the series filmed at the reconstruction of the villa, El Corazón del Imperio. IMDb here.

3. I took images of the museum, the archaeological dig with the wingless Pegasus mosaic, and the reconstruction of the villa while researching and recording this episode. You can see them on Spanish Sundown’s webpage, or on Facebook, Instagram or Reddit, where you can also join our online community.

© 2025 Samuel Mattern. All rights reserved.