For city dwellers the sight of herds suddenly appearing in the streets of a large city is inevitably shocking.

But every October in Madrid, Spain, thousands of sheep enter the streets of the city center, ready to participate in the annual "Tanshumance Festival”.

In Spain, whenever the season gradually changes from summer to winter, shepherds will drive thousands of sheep and other livestock from the highland pastures to the lower pastures, forming several traditional nomadic routes.

Associated with nomadic culture

Pastoralism is one of the traditions of animal husbandry in the Mediterranean region and is closely related to the ancient nomadic culture.

Historically, pastoralism has been widespread in most parts of Spain. Even before the Roman era, the Iberian Peninsula had a relatively regular migratory route.

In 1273, King Alfonso X created the Guild of Venerable Herdsmen to better organize the migration of herds, promote farming, and thereby increase the tax revenue generated by the movement of herds through the crown lands.

In the 15th century, the Spanish twin kings introduced a series of measures to protect grazing activities. In addition to limiting the width of the routes occupied by herds, penalties were increased for obstructing grazing routes. This was to ensure that herdsmen could lead their herds through towns and villages unhindered.

In the golden age of grazing, about 5 million heads of sheep and cattle were moved each year, and the total length of grazing routes in Spain was 120,000 kilometers, forming an intertwined network of grazing routes. Some migration routes even crossed the border.

The migration not only led to the migration of people and herds but also facilitated the spread of culture between different regions in the Iberian Peninsula.

From music and cuisine to architecture and festivals, migrations left a deep imprint on Spanish culture, and later indirectly influenced the livestock culture of the Americas.

In fact, the origin of the classic cowboy image in old American western movies can be traced back to the Spanish herdsmen who drove sheep and cattle to migrate.

The impact from modern civilization

However, from the end of the 18th century, with the spread of intensive agriculture and the decline of traditional animal husbandry, some traditional grazing routes were discontinued.

In the mid-19th century, the introduction of the railroad system in Spain further replaced traditional grazing on foot with the transport of herds by train.Later, as the road system became more developed, grazing began to be carried out more by truck. The old grazing routes were gradually abandoned and turned into trails for hiking.

Today, 40% of the grazing routes in Spain have completely disappeared. But to this day, there is a small group of herders who maintain a nomadic lifestyle. They are calling for the preservation of migratory routes and the defense of their culture and traditional way of life.

These calls are supported by a number of environmental organizations, ecologists, and civil society groups.

Environmentalists believe that sustainable management of grasslands can help reduce CO2 emissions and thus mitigate climate change.

Ecologists point out that during migration, each sheep can disperse about 5,000 plant seeds per day and provide more than 3 kg of fertilizer to the land, which contributes to the maintenance of ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity.

Some civil society groups, on the other hand, say that the resumption of pastoral migration will allow some young people to return to the countryside and help some villages on the verge of extinction due to a severely aging population to withstand the onslaught of urbanization.

For the 29th time in its history, the Festival will be held in Madrid in 2022. This year, the festival has an even greater significance for the shepherds.

Some pastoralists have proposed a return to ecological agriculture and a focus on sustainable development, and hope that the festival will lead to more attention to the survival of pastoral communities, rural development, and environmental protection.