Spanish animal lovers flocked to church yesterday for the Feast of St Anthony, the patron saint of animals – and they brought their pets with them.
As well as the usual cats and dogs, pets included doves, parrots, mice, donkeys and exotic creatures like iguanas.
In central Madrid, pet-owners lined up round the block to wait for the priest of the Church of St Anton to bless their animals by sprinking holy water on them.
The Telegraph quotes 40-year-old Francisco Javier Carvajal Aceves, waiting in line with his 13-month-old Chihuahua Lula cradled in his arms: "For those of us who are believers we believe it provides health and well-being to the animal as well as their owner.
"Animals also are beings created by God and deserve to be blessed."
Some animals were brought in prams, tucked into coats or dressed in brightly-coloured garments to protect them from the cold weather.
In a more dramatic celebration of the day, in the village of San Bartolome de los Pinares, about 62 miles northwest of Madrid, horses are jumped through bonfires in the streets. The tradition is known as Luminarias and dates back 500 years.
