The hot, dry weather continues here in Galicia, albeit that there is a nice fresh wind blowing today keeping the temperature down. Having said that it appears that the sun might have seriously impaired the thinking of some, leaving them to either wrestle wild horses, or perhaps run along the streets whilst being chased by bulls.

Spain is ,of course, the country of fiestas, but the annual calendar has now arrived at ‘silly season’ where man and beast come together by way of some rather odd celebrations. Here in Galicia we have the annual Rapa das Bestas – a ritual that dates back to the 15th Century. This entails wild horses being rounded up from the hillsides and guided into an enclosure in the centre of Sabucedo, simply to have their manes and tails trimmed. On face value quite an easy job, except that the only permitted way to control or subdue the horses is by using brute strength, meaning that the whole festival more or less resembles what can only be described as organised horse wrestling.

Meanwhile, over in Pamplona they have the annual Festival of San Fermin, which includes the daily ‘encierro’ – the simple matter of running through very crowded streets whilst being chased by a herd of bulls. Since 1925, some 15 people have been killed in the process, being either gored or trampled under the hooves of these heavy beasts – the most recent fatality was in 2009. Up to 300 people are injured every year.

I think I’ll stick to the albariño festival, which takes place at the beginning of next month. It gets pretty wild, but I don’t think the risk of injury is quite as high!The hot, dry weather continues here in Galicia, albeit that there is a nice fresh wind blowing today keeping the temperature down. Having said that it appears that the sun might have seriously impaired the thinking of some, leaving them to either wrestle wild horses, or perhaps run along the streets whilst being chased by bulls.

Spain is ,of course, the country of fiestas, but the annual calendar has now arrived at ‘silly season’ where man and beast come together by way of some rather odd celebrations. Here in Galicia we have the annual Rapa das Bestas – a ritual that dates back to the 15th Century. This entails wild horses being rounded up from the hillsides and guided into an enclosure in the centre of Sabucedo, simply to have their manes and tails trimmed. On face value quite an easy job, except that the only permitted way to control or subdue the horses is by using brute strength, meaning that the whole festival more or less resembles what can only be described as organised horse wrestling.

Meanwhile, over in Pamplona they have the annual Festival of San Fermin, which includes the daily ‘encierro’ – the simple matter of running through very crowded streets whilst being chased by a herd of bulls. Since 1925, some 15 people have been killed in the process, being either gored or trampled under the hooves of these heavy beasts – the most recent fatality was in 2009. Up to 300 people are injured every year.

I think I’ll stick to the albariño festival, which takes place at the beginning of next month. It gets pretty wild, but I don’t think the risk of injury is quite as high!