Horses leap fires in ancient Spanish "Luminarias" festival, raising ire of animal rights activists

 

Emilio Morenatti / AP

Spanish villagers rode their horses through a bonfire Thursday night as part of a 500-year-old ritual in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals.

Fires blazed in the narrow cobblestone streets of San Bartolome de Pinares, a small village northwest of Madrid, for the Luminarias festival. The tradition is meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires and protect them for the year to come.