Las Luminarias: a Spanish festival of fire and horses
Society & Culture
January 17, 2018, 16:55
The tradition of riding horses through fire, which is reported to be 500 years old, is meant to purify and protect the animal for the year ahead
Each year, on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day, Spanish residents take to the streets to ride their horses through bonfire flames. Saint Anthony is Spain's patron saint of domestic animals. And this tradition is meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires and protect them for the year to come. A look inside Luminarias, Spanish festival that dates back 500 years.