Many tourists and residents were surprised to see traffic cut to
allow the ovine parade to bleat its way across some of Madrid's
most upscale urban streets. The right to use droving routes that
wind across land that was open fields and woodland before Madrid
grew from a rural hamlet to the great metropolis it is today has
existed since at least 1273. Every year, a handful of shepherds
defend the right and, following an age-old tradition, on Sunday
paid 25 maravedis—coins first minted in the 11th century—to city
hall to use the crossing. Shepherds have a right to use 78,000
miles (125,000 kilometers) of paths for seasonal livestock
migrations from cool highland pastures in summer to warmer and
more protected lowland grazing in winter. The movement is called
transhumance and in Spain up until recently involved close to a
million animals a year, mostly sheep and cattle. Modern farming
practices are however increasingly confining animals to barns,
because shepherding is costly, according to the Ministry of
Agricu