About 100 horses jumped by means of bonfires in a purification ceremony on Sunday (January 16) throughout the Spanish pageant of “Las Luminarias,” which was held for the primary time for the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The normal nighttime celebration takes place in San Bartolome de Pinares each Jan. 16, the eve of Saint Anthony’s Day, Spain’s patron saint of animals.
It was cancelled final yr due to pandemic restrictions.
Revellers rode their horses by means of the slim cobble-stoned streets, which based on custom, purifies the animals with the smoke and flames of the bonfires for the approaching yr.
After an hour of horses leaping over flames, revellers then took to dancing and consuming.
“This comes from 1000’s of years in the past. In order that animals didn’t get unwell, the previous monks would bless them with fires in order that they might leap and be purified,” mentioned Fermin Abad, 64, an area resident.
About 100 horses and their homeowners took half within the festivities, Reuters witnesses mentioned.
Regardless of coming beneath criticism from animal rights teams through the years, organisers informed Reuters that the horses weren’t harmed as a consequence of precautions taken by riders to chop horse hair to keep away from burns.