6 cute pictures of pets being blessed on St Anthony's Day in Spain

A woman holds her dog as it is blessed by a priest outside San Anton Church in the neighbourhood of Churriana, in Malaga.Reuters

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.

A girl pushes her dog in a pram after it was blessed by a priest in Benalmadena, near Malaga.Reuters

As well as the usual cats and dogs, pets included doves, parrots, mice, donkeys and exotic creatures like iguanas.

A dog is blessed outside San Anton Church in Madrid.Reuters

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.

A dog looks on before it is blessed by a priest in Benalmadena, near Malaga.Reuters

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."

A woman carries her cat after a mass inside San Anton Church in Madrid.Reuters

Some animals were brought in prams, tucked into coats or dressed in brightly-coloured garments to protect them from the cold weather.

A woman holds her dogs, who are wearing outfits in the colours of soccer club Atletico Madrid, as she waits in line for them to be blessed outside San Anton Church in Madrid.Reuters

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.