On Sunday, October 25, the XXXIII edition of the Transhumance Festival is celebrated. The route of the sheep changes due to the campsite set up at Puerta del Sol.
On Sunday, October 25, Madrid celebrates the XXXIII edition of the Transhumance Festival, with thousands of sheep and their shepherds parading through the streets of the city centre. According to 20minutos, this year the itinerary changes due to the campsite at Puerta del Sol, set up after the eviction of a local resident.
To avoid crossing the Plaza de la Villa, the route will take a detour that bypasses the headquarters of the Madrid City Council. The symbolic payment of 50 maravedís for every thousand sheep will take place in Plaza de la Villa, on Calle Mayor, after passing through Calle Bailén. The festival will also feature groups in regional costumes, musicians, and traditional dances.
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism that involves moving livestock from one area to another according to the season, in search of better weather and more pasture. The traditional movement goes from high areas, where grazing occurs in summer, to low areas, where livestock is fed in winter. The most common routes in Spain connect Castilla y León with Extremadura.
The festival was born in 1994 to advocate for the approval of the Law of Livestock Routes, which seeks to protect a heritage of 125,000 km in length and 420,000 hectares in area across the country. In the Community of Madrid, there are 4,040 kilometers of livestock routes, covering almost 15,000 hectares.
These traditional routes serve for the transit of livestock and have played an important role since the Middle Ages. Among them, the royal drovers' roads stand out, large itineraries that connect regions of the peninsula with a predominant north-south orientation. The network is completed by cordeles, veredas, and coladas, which are narrower.
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