Las Luminarias festival kicks off in Spain as people ride horses through fire

Spain is known for its crazy festivals – but this flame-riddled one might just take the cake.

Spain is known for its wild festivals but Las Luminarias, a flame-fuelled celebration, might just take the cake.

Every year, in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares, in the central Spanish province of Avila, locals honour San Antonio Abad (Saint Anthony).

Saint Anthony is the patron saint of animals and locals celebrate him in the traditional festival of Las Luminarias.

The night before the festival, dozens of locals ride horses through bonfires to honour the saint.

The tradition, reported to be more than 500 years old, is supposed to purify and protect the animal for the year ahead.

The tail of the horse is taped with the colours of the Spanish flag and its mane is braided to protect its hair from the fire.

A man rides through the bonfire. Picture: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP

The riders typically have a drink before doing the daring stunt. Picture: Picture: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP

The tradition is hundreds of years old. Picture: Picture: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP

This isn’t the only festival involving animals in Spain.

In 2021, shocking images of horses being manhandled at a traditional Spanish event known as the Shearing of the Beasts were released.

The photographs, taken on August 29 last year in the northwestern village of Sabucedo, 40km from Santiago de Compostela, showed dozens of animals being wrestled to the ground and having their manes trimmed.

The more than 400-year-old tradition sees men, young and old, herd hundreds of wild horses from the nearby countryside into an arena known as a “curro”.

According to various travel blogs, the younger foals are then separated from the mature horses, who are jumped upon by the “aloitadores” and forced into submission so their hair can be cut.

They are then reunited with the foals and released back into the mountains. Bringing down a foal is reportedly seen as a rite of passage for young Spanish men.

Wild horses fight during the 400-year-old horse festival Shearing of the Beasts. Picture: Miguel Riopa/AFP

People watch the wild horses arriving at the ‘Rapa Das Bestas’ (Shearing of the Beasts). Picture: Miguel Riopa/AFP

And of course there’s the iconic San Fermin, the Running of the Bulls festival, in Pamplona every year.

The nine-day San Fermin festival, which dates back to medieval times, features concerts, religious processions, folk dancing and around-the-clock drinking.

But the highlight is a bracing, daily test of courage against a thundering pack of half-tonne, sharp-horned bulls.

Participants try to avoid a bull at San Fermin festival in 2019. Picture: Ander Gillenea/AFP

Each morning, hundreds of runners (many dressed in white with red scarfs and sashes) test their valour by sprinting with six half-tonne bulls along an 850-metre course through the narrow streets of the city in northern Spain.

The most daring try to run as long as they can right in front of the beasts’ horns before veering off to the side or diving under the wooden barriers that separate the bulls and runners from the thousands of spectators that line the route.

In 2019, two Australians aged 27 and 30 were gored during the final bull run.