A statue depicting El Cid riding Babieca.

According to several sources, Babieca was the steed of the Spanish military leader El Cid in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Several stories exist about the Cid and Babieca.

Babieca, the Spanish word for "simple," or "stupid," was said to be a white Andalusian horse. In one story, Babieca is a gift from the Cid's godfather, a Carthusian monk who gives him his pick of Andalusian horses as a coming-of-age present. According to legend, the Cid chose Babieca, a white horse who was frail and wild. this casued the Cid's godfather to exclaim "Babieca!" (stupid), which became his name. Another etymology makes the horse come from the Babia region.

Over time, Babieca became a great warhorse, famous to the Christians, feared by El Cid's enemies, and loved by the Cid, who allegedly requsted that Babieca be buried with him in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña (he wasn't). His name is mentioned in several tales and historical documents about El Cid, including "Cantar de Mío Cid" ("Song of the Cid"). Some say that after the Cid's death in combat, Babieca was never mounted again and died two years later at the age of forty.

Babieca is also the name of a search engine. They have a horse as their logo.