Once upon a time, long ago, when magic and sorcery were around, witches lived in the caves of Conflent where they spent all winter.
At the end of winter they cleaned their brushes and left the caves to celebrate the arrival of spring with the villagers of Villefranche.
In doing this, they brought the villagers happiness, cheerfulness and prosperity during all the year.
It is a Catalan tradition to give a witch as a sign of friendship to children or close friends.
They are suspended either in the house, or in the room of the children, to get rid of evil spirits and to fill the place with happiness.
If you walk around Villefranche you can buy witches on every streetcorner.