AP PHOTOS: In Spanish village, horses leap through flames in centuries-old ritual

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A man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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A man braids the horse’s tail before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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A horse grazes before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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Tree branches ready to be burned are placed before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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Children play on top of a heap of wood to be burned before a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolomé de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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A horse is silhouetted through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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People watch a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

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Men ride horses next to a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

By MANU FERNÁNDEZ and SUMAN NAISHADHAM

SAN BARTOLOME DE PINARES, Spain (AP) — On a chilly January night, hundreds of people gathered on the steep and narrow cobblestoned streets of San Bartolome de Pinares — population 500 — to watch a dramatic sight: horses galloping through towering flames.

It’s a centuries-old tradition in the Spanish village about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Madrid that takes place every year to honor St. Anthony the Abbott, the patron saint of animals. Riders guide horses through bonfires lit in the middle of the street in an act believed to purify the animals in the coming year.

Festivities started around nightfall Thursday as giant stacks of tree branches, later fuel for the flames, were placed on the side of the street, while locals mulled about sharing wine and beer and sweets.

In San Bartolome, where livestock and agriculture were common traditional livelihoods, locals say it all started after a mysterious illness swept through the village’s animals centuries ago. It was then that people started believing that smoke could purify and heal horses, said Ángel Martín, as he tended to his family’s horses near a stone church with his father.

“Since then, it’s stayed on as tradition,” Martín explained.

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Las Luminarias has long attracted criticism for being brutal toward the animals involved.

To protect them, hours before the show starts, riders wrap their horses’ tails in fire-resistant tape and braid their manes. Some apply a glaze on the animals’ mane to prevent them from burning as they leap through the flames. Others beautify them, tightly braiding their manes, tying pink and red ribbons to their tails wrapped in tape, and adorning them with decorative headpieces.

“It’s exciting for us, even though we’re from here and we see it every year,” said Ana Díaz, who came with her daughter and husband, who later rode his horse through the flames.

Díaz, who works for a clothing company in Madrid but visits her family home in San Bartolome almost every weekend, said that she wasn’t worried about potential possible risks to riders or animals.

“It’s not just anyone who can ride,” Díaz said. “It’s people who know the festival, who know their animal and would never want anything to happen to the horse.”

Once the festivities start, some horses resist walking directly into the fires, and simply walk around them. But the horses and riders that draw the loudest cheers are those that leap head-on through the flames.

Animal rights groups in Spain have long opposed Las Luminarias, but riders and spectators in San Bartolome insist that it doesn’t hurt the horses. Others show up for the simple fact that Las Luminarias has continued almost without interruption in the village for centuries.

Generations of young people migrating from Spain’s hinterlands for cities have left scores of villages and towns like San Bartolome close to or entirely abandoned. Age-old rituals and festivals like Las Luminarias bring people back, locals say, even if just for a few nights.

Martín, who prepares his family’s horses every year for the festival, said concerns about the animals’ welfare were misplaced.

“In a week, let them come back and go through each of the farms where there are horses and see if any of them have burns, if any of them are sick, if they see anything abnormal,” Martín said. “They’re not going to find much.”

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