Transhumance in Spain: a new agreement

By Blanca Casares, Asociación Trashumancia y Naturaleza (ATyN)

Last year, an agreement made with Concejo de la Mesta Association facilitated more access to public land, thus allowing 1,500 sheep and goats to migrate from the dehesas in Guadarrama Regional Park in Madrid to the mountains of Picos de Europa National Park in León. To avoid severe summer drought and allow the regeneration of dehesas and pastures in Central Spain, the herds walked 900 kilometres from June to October along four drovers’ roads—Cañadas Leonesa Occidental, Leonesa Oriental, Soriana Occidental and Burgalesa. Due to extreme heat, it was necessary to expand grazing beyond Extremadura and Andalucia to include dehesas in the east, near Madrid. One herd remained along the Guadarrama River throughout winter and spring, an area of extraordinary biodiversity and more than 2,700 hectares of pasture land. The approval of the agreement was an indication of support for transhumant pastoralism by the regional authority: by declaring the drovers’ roads as Cañada Real de Madrid, the Government of the Community of Madrid committed to carrying out measures to restore and maintain the drovers’ roads.

Additionally, after repeated requests from Asociación Trashumancia y Naturaleza (ATyN), the Madrid City Council finally allowed a transhumant herd to graze in winter and spring at the 1,700 hectare Casa de Campo urban park, thus reviving the connection between the countryside and the city. Having detected a serious lack of young pastoralists throughout Spain, ATyN set out to develop educational and training activities in collaboration with city councils, universities, central government ministries and managers of the autonomous community of Guadarrama Regional Park, with hopes to revive the profession and create employment opportunities in the region. ATyN implemented nature conservation activities in the main villages along the transhumance route, and submitted reports to relevant authorities on the state of the drovers´ roads and the necessary improvements to facilitate the transit of the herds. In addition to this, ATyN cleaned and set up watering holes on abandoned drovers´ roads, which connect the dehesas of Andalusia with the mountains of Aragon, allowing its use by new families of transhumant herders.

All photos provided by Asociación Trashumancia y Naturaleza (ATyN)