In August for two weekends, Sanlúcar hosts a horse races during the evening’s low tide. The official races began in 1845 when the the Sociedad de Carreras de Caballos de Sanlúcar de Barrameda was formed. The races are along a 1,800m stretch of beach at the mouth of the Río Guadalquivir. The historical origins of the racing is that fish buyers raced the horses along the beach as they waited for trawlers to bring in their haul to the port. These races are very significant and even are part of the national series of horse events that include Madrid, San Sabastian, and Seville. The prizes are much more than just fish now with the total prize money being between 2 and 3 million euros. The winnings for the individual race go from a few hundred to up to 10,000 euros. The races are very different than any US horse races with the people being there on what looks like their usual family vacation days at the beach. Just a few minutes before the race a couple police trucks go by and everybody is behind the orange fence. Then the horses go flying by. The race that we saw had only about 10 horses. Just a few minutes after the races finish all the kids are back swimming in the water. The kids also have tons of homemade betting booths where they really do take bets on the races.
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