A Spanish village's annual ritual of hurling a live goat from a church belfry has failed to take place this year after the participants were threatened with heavy fines.

After years of protests from animal rights campaigners, the local authorities had said they would fine people up to fifteen thousand dollars each if they went ahead with the tradition.

A group of young people took a goat as far as the front of the church, but they backed down when nobody responded to their request to help pay their fines if they were punished.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service