Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Travel
La Alberca, Spain

This photograph is “The Pig of St Anthony,” a medieval Christian tradition carried out in the small village of La Alberca, in Northern Spain. Yearly a pig is officially blessed and released on the feast day of St. Anthony into the village for six months and is then communally fed and looked after by residents. It is treated like an honored guest, drivers are expected to give it the right of way, and some people take it in for the night.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 09.2019
Date Uploaded: 11.2020
Photo Location: La Alberca, Spain
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Copyright: © Alexandra Buxbaum