Monday, October 31, 2011

Farm Animals in the City

Earlier today, all vehicular traffic leading towards Puerta de Alcala had been blocked off for an unusual reason. Hundreds of farm animals such as cattle, sheep and goats were herded through the center of Madrid in an annual procession defending ancient grazing and migration rights.

Long before cars and pedestrians began to shuttle on the asphalted roads in the heart of the city, these paths were part of the livestock trail used by shepherds in the autumn to bring their animals from north to south for better grazing in warmer weather. This tradition has been kept alive today despite urban development.

Farm animals in the city? Oh, it's just another day in Madrid.
























Posted by The Wandering StarDust at 12:16 AM
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2 comments:

  1. PierreOctober 31, 2011 at 4:49 PM

    Great photos on the trashumancia ! Seeing all the cattle on calle Alcala must have been awesome. So they did go until la Puerta de Alcala ? I thought this year they were stopping at Ventas !
    Anyway, keep the great stuff coming :-) Al the best,
    Pierre, moving2madrid.com blogger

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  2. The Wandering StarDustOctober 31, 2011 at 5:45 PM

    Thanks, Pierre ;) Yes it was awesome! I've been meaning to catch this event after missing it the past couple of years. I followed the procession up to the point of Puerta de Alcala, and they appeared to be continuing on down the whole stretch of Alcala, perhaps right down to las Ventas as you said.

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