Overview
- In Madrid, Padre Ángel led the blessing at the Church of San Antón, telling attendees that loneliness is eased by love and the company pets provide.
- Hundreds queued with animals ranging from dogs and cats to turtles and a pet snail, and some people brought phone photos of deceased companions to receive a prayer.
- In Palencia, the Cofradía de San Antón gathered under San Miguel’s arcades due to rain and offered sugar-free biscuits for pets following the blessing.
- Pontevedra continued its long-running observance at San José de Campolongo with morning and evening sessions, a tradition restored in the 1990s by José Antonio Fernández Recuna and officiated this year by Casimiro Fernández.
- Oviedo’s Basílica de San Juan el Real hosted a crowded ceremony where the parish priest urged care for all creation, while parishes in Argentina and elsewhere also marked the feast day.