It is possible that our minds inevitably go to Sanlúcar de Barrameda when we talk about horse racing on the beach. Held in the mid-1840s, these races along the Sanlúcar beaches are one of the great claims of the population of Cádiz.
Considered a Festival of Andalusian, national and international Tourist Interest, these horse races are celebrated during the month of Augustseparated into two different cycles, taking advantage of the low tides so that the riders take the sands of Sanlúcar.
However, it is not the only municipality in Spain where we can see horse gallops on the beach, although it is possible that we believe so. To see more horse racing we have to completely change the registry and replace the Andalusian coasts with the northern coasts.
You also have to change the time of year, because in the following case the competition is held during Easter Week (in fact, in 2023 it will be held on April 7 and 8) and will have the Santa Marina beach as a backdrop, in it Asturian municipality of Ribadesella.
Celebrated since 1989, these races turn the Riosellano sandbank into a natural racetrack that take advantage of Holy Week to celebrate this competition that has the rank of Festival of Tourist Interest of the Principality of Asturias.
Thoroughbred Arabian and mixed horses, as well as English thoroughbreds and crossbreds, compete for two days in races and in the celebration of an equestrian show that has historical roots: that of smugglers who galloped out in the 18th century to backs of black horses for dodge port authorities at night.
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It would be already late 20th century when several local fans, aware of these legends, began to bet on which would be the fastest of their horses, taking advantage of the wet and compacted sand left by the low tides.
Now the party has become professionalized, even with competitors arriving from other parts of Spain and from countries like France or Portugalalso converting the test on Good Friday into a test that scores for the Spanish horse riding championship.
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