How many of you remember the iconic animal blessing episode from "The Vicar of Dibley" ?Well this morning the Ermita de Sanz, located directly behind the El Cisne weekend rastro, on the outskirts of Benidorm, certainly resembled that scene!
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| The Ermita de Sanz |
The service was due to start at 11am - but livestock started arriving well ahead of time. A specially erected marque stood next to the chapel - partly as it would have been too small for the number of attendees, plus I don´t think that the priest would have been too happy if the numerous animals had left "a gift"!There were also some stalls with local products for sale - run by the local penya and a delicious smelling bbq where they were queuing for the sausages in baguette!
By far dogs outnumbered any other animals - it looked as if the entire dog population of Benidorm was present, but there were also cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, a ferret, budgies, some horses and a pony. Surprisingly, considering the number of dogs present no fights took place - and a missed opportunity for local vets who could have been touting for business!
It is nice to see such traditions continuing here and the great support and turnout by locals.... it certainly created a traffic jam along the N332 and kept the local police busy directing traffic!
