Europe's oldest horse race
returns to beach near Rota
Story and photos by Scott
Schonauer, Rota bureau
Jockeys race their horses
in Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain, during Las Carreras de Caballos Aug. 18. Race horses will
return to the beaches of Sanlucar on Wednesday for the second and final cycle of the year. |
SANLÚCAR DE BARRAMEDA, Spain — As the tides recede and the shoreline slowly
swells, the jockeys and their horses emerge.
Children stop playing in the golden brown sand. Napping beach bums awake, shield their
eyes from the sun and strain to see.
"Mira, caballos," a boy in the crowd shouts.
Look, horses.
Most days the 2-kilometer strip of sand is full of people who come to the beach to
relax, breathe the humid sea breeze and watch the boats slide down the river into the
Atlantic Ocean.
But for six days every summer, Sanlúcar’s beach — just north of the
Spanish-U.S. naval station in Rota — becomes a racetrack for some of the best
racehorses in Europe.
Although smaller in size and not as well known, Las Carreras de Caballos is revered in
Sanlúcar much as the Kentucky Derby is embraced in Louisville.
With a tradition that stretches back to 1845, it is Europe’s oldest horse race.
The event is considered one of 16 major national fiestas. Each race day attracts about
32,000 people.
"For us, it is one of the most important events of the year," said Leonor
Polo, tourist office worker.
Plus, it’s free.
Spanish children gather
around a makeshift betting caseta in Sanlucar de Barrameda. Children compete to design the
most creative caseta. |
While the races are typically held on the banks of the Guadalquivir, across from
Doñana National Park in August, the exact dates of the event are coordinated with the
tides.
How exactly the races started is unclear.
One story is that fish buyers raced the horses along the beach as they waited for
trawlers to bring in their haul to the port.
One legend is that people raced donkeys along the banks for fun and eventually upgraded
to horses.
What is known is that a horse racing society was established in Sanlúcar in 1845,
creating a tradition that would become a part of the city’s cultural fabric.
Miguel Sanchez Delage, an insurance businessman who has directed the race for the last
17 years, said that the races have grown and are "1,000 times better." But, he
said, the beloved event almost died in 1980 because of mismanagement and apathy.
"It needed new blood," he said.
The race once was considered for rich people. But there is little that separates the
elite from the common folk at the races today.
Families can sit on the beach with only an orange mesh construction fence separating
them from the horses. A fiesta that concludes the last cycle is open to the public.
Tourists also are welcome. Posters advertising the races are taped to the tourist
information office and around town. Pamphlets give a short history of the races in
English.
The setting sun in
Sanlucar de Barrameda silhouettes Marco Vidal Rodriguez and his son, Kevin Vidal Goli, as
they watch the horses. |
For area children, it is a special time of the year.
They spend hours designing, painting and constructing cardboard betting booths or
"casetas," for the races. Along the route they collect $1 bets. Sometimes the
kid bookmakers have enough money to pay the winner — if you’re really lucky.
"It’s very funny to watch," said Angel Torne, a Sanlúcar native and
resident who works at the naval station’s housing office.
Most families arrive early and let the kids play on the beach until the police start
clearing the shoreline for the first race. In between races, some spectators sip on
Sanlúcar’s famous sherry as vendors sell sunflower seeds and peanuts.
Although the jockeys compete for cash prizes, there are no scoreboards placed along the
track. Only the people sitting in bleachers at the finish line know who wins, or seem to
care.
Most come for the spectacle and just for fun.
"It’s unique," Torne said.
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