Anxious not to miss the Palmares Festival some Ticos buy fake illness certificates to take a sick day, and that prompted the Social Security System, or Caja, to launch an investigation into the selling of counterfeited documents.

Six days into the raucous Palmares civic festival, in the northwestern Central Valley, police already have arrested 198 people.

During Thursday's massive horse parade that initiated the Palmares Festival, 73 people were detained or arrested and 122 needed medical attention, according to data from the Red Cross. That included 23 injuries to festival-goers who entered the bullfighting ring.

All along Palmares’ main street, officially known as La Recta, the crowd was like a parted sea of cowboy hats. They flanked the empty avenue in growing anticipation, swigging beer from Pilsen cans, eating skewers of barbequed chicken, and taking selfies in front of waiting horses. So began the Palmares “tope,” or horse parade, on that sunny Thursday.