Why is the invasion of sheep in the capital of Spain in autumn (5 photos)

Once a year, sheep move on the roads of Madrid, not cars.





Just imagine: you get off the subway and find yourself in surrounded by a giant herd of sheep. Such an amazing picture watch every year in Madrid. At the end of October, sheep are replaced on the streets cars, they go straight along the roads, driven by shepherds and surrounded spectators. So why is there such a sheep invasion?



The fact is that the Spaniards turned the usual traditional haul animals during the Fiesta de la Trashumancia. Actually a festival relatively young: animals have been flooding the Spanish capital since 1994. However, this is a tribute to a tradition that is many centuries old, and a couple of weeks ago in once again it ended.





Madrid is historically located on animal transhumance routes. Before before Spain became Spain, every autumn flocks of sheep: the shepherds led them to winter in the pastures in the south, where animals have offspring. When the city grew in the Middle Ages, sheep became a problem for the residents. Since then, a fee has been introduced for the transfer of streets: the shepherds had to pay 50 maravedis for every thousand sheep. Of course they paid, so Madrid in the fall for a few days Sheep, goats and bulls filled the area.



In 1994, they decided to revive the tradition and turn it into traditional festival to preserve the cultural value of this Events. This is how the Fiesta de la Trashumancia was born. Now the sheep distilled to the music, the shepherds dress in traditional clothes and shoes, and the dancers go ahead of the herd.



In fact, the holiday has not only cultural significance, but also practical. In general, such a distillation is very useful for animals: sheep health and immunity improves if they change summer high-altitude fields on winter lowlands. In addition, driving around the city helps protect from overgrazing in many areas. Well, for the people of Madrid Fiesta de la Trashumancia has become a special day, because the roads are freed from a huge number of cars, you can walk along them under the bleating and the ringing of merino sheep's bells.