Wild Horses Run Through Spanish Ski Resort Leaving Skiers Stunned

On April 17th, a small group of horses that live in the Sierra Nevada range were seen around midday running across the trails Sierra Nevada resort. The horses were in full view across the resort boundaries, even getting pretty close to the lifts. 

While the horses are common to the area, seeing them run across the resort is a less frequent sight. An instructor who witnessed the event said they came from a completely unknown direction as skiers couldn’t pull their eyes away from this memorable view. 

According to Spain’s CanalSur, wild horses in the Sierra Nevada National Park, which includes the resort, live in freedom but are descended from domestic horses. While it’s not know exactly how long they’ve existed in the National Park, it’s believed that they may have escaped from captivity or been released, potentially around 2008.

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These feral horses have adapted to the harsh conditions of the Sierra Nevada, grazing in the meadows and mid-mountain pastures, while taking refuge in pine forests and other protected areas to avoid cold and heat. While they retain some traits of their domestication, they primarily live in herds and behave like wild animals.

Sierra Nevada is Europe’s southernmost ski resort, situated at a high altitude and surrounded by wilderness in Spain’s autonomous community of Andalusia. Located around an hour from the city of Granada, it features 23 ski lifts and around 139 trails. This type of sight is exactly what reminds visitors of the wild landscape the lies beyond the groomed runs and mechanical lifts. 

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