Locals ride horses through fires at Spain festival

The streets ofa Spanish village were filled with smoke, the glow of burning wood and the clatter of trotting hooves as an annual festival returned on Monday.

Horses burst through the soaring flames of night-time bonfires as the dramatic Las Luminarias festival was held in San Bartolome de Pinares. Riders ride their horses as near as they dare to the bonfires, saying the smoke that envelops them purifies and protects the horses during the following year.The festival is held every year on January 16, on the eve of the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of animals.