festa da coca
Coca is a female dragon that in medieval times, in the Iberian Peninsula, used to take part in different celebrations. In Portugal one still survives in Monção and she fights in some sort of medieval tournament with saint George during the Corpus Christi celebrations. She is called "Santa Coca" (Saint Coca) or "Coca rabixa" (Tailed Coca) and if she defeats Saint George, by scaring the horse, there will be a bad year for the crops and famine, if the horse and Saint George win by cutting off one of her ears with earring and her tongue, the crops will be fertile. Oddly enough the people cheer for Saint Coca. In Galicia there are still two dragon cocas, one in Betanzos the other in Redondela. The legend says that the dragon arrived from the sea and was devouring the young women and was killed in combat by the young men of the city. In Monção, the legend says, she lives in rio Minho; in Redondela she lives in the Ria of Vigo. The dragon shared the same name that was given in Portuguese and Spanish to the Cog, and although used mainly for trade it was also a war vessel common in medieval warfare and piracy raids to coastal villages.
In Catalonia the "Cuca fera de Tortosa" was first documented in 1457. It is a zoomorphic figure, looks like a tortoise with a horned spine, it has dragon claws and a dragon head. The legend says she had to dine every night on three cats and three children. The legend of the Coca can be compared to the one of Peluda or Tarrasque.In Brazil the Coco appears as a female alligator called Cuca.
интересно, что народ "болеет" за дракона -- вернее, драконшу, и даже зовёт её святой. Грассе д'Орсе в месте, где упоминает подобное действо в Тарасконе, тоже пишет, что "народ, кажется, был больше привязан к дракону"
отдельный интерес представляют "серьги" в ушах Коки в виде колёс с шестью спицами