Animal rights groups have condemned a festival in Spain that sees riders jump their horses through roaring flames as part of an annual festival, calling it an example of "animal abuse".
The Las Luminarias festival takes place northwest of Madrid in San Bartolome de Pinares and is held on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day, Spain's patron saint of animals.
Reuters reports that those taking part in the tradition believe that the horses who leap over the flames, lit in bonfires on the ground, will be purified for the year ahead.
However, animal rights groups have long voiced their concerns over the event, with Spanish political party, the Animalist Party Against the Mistreatment of Animals, describing it as "clear animal abuse".
The mayor of San Bartolome de Pinares doesn't agree with this viewpoint.
"The only thing I have to say is that the animals don't suffer anything at all," she told Reuters.
"The government of Castilla and Leon assign us a vet and the City Hall hires another one, who is making rounds all around the village during the festival.
"Every year they produce a report which has always been favourable and nothing has ever happened here," Ms Gomez said.
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