Unless I missed a post on this topic, was Madrid taken over by sheep sometime this week?

My dad saw a newspaper article in Chicago that said there were hundreds of sheep wandering the streets, on some annual move to take them from one side of the city to the other. Streets and traffic were shut down...can anyone elaborate?? I would be curious to see a picture of this!

Centuries ago, shephards brought their sheep southwards from the north of Spain in winter, to use the free communitary fields , and brought them North in summer, because they were too dry and the northern ones were fresh with more frequent rains (Atlantic Northern coast has a climate similar to atlantic french coast).

They still have that right and use it partially, although sometimes highways make it impossible, that's why they cross Madrid (which used to be part of their route) once (EDIT: twice) a year, to reivindicate the maintenace of that old right of pass.

Not a very good photo, but...

These are better.

I believe that last year's event was the final one. I think they've decided that the custom/ritual/tradition can no longer be tolerated as it shuts down much of the city for one day. Plus most all sheep are transported by large trucks nowadays. Can anyone confirm that they no longer pass through Madrid "on hoof"?

Saludos, MadridMan

Well they hoofed past me on the Calle Alcala, 200 yards from Sol, on Sunday at about 12 noon. Baaaaa.

barry, that was LAST Sunday??? Really? Why didn't I hear about it? I could have sworn last year's "march" was the last one. Were they on a leash? Maybe they were really overfed French poodles? hehehe..

Saludos, MadridMan

They do two trips in the year, go and return.
The last time they did it in Salamanca To complain about Madrid council atittude.
There are just a few men that still travel with the sheeps like this, normally sheeps are kept in farms during the winter and feed with some kind of food inside the farm instead of eating in the countryside.........

Thanks, Guys, for all of the info! The pictures were pretty neat. I bet it would be quite a site to see (in person) the streets of Madrid overrun by sheep!

I can confirm that the shepherds did come through Madrid this past Sunday with their flocks. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it until after the fact. They do the march early on Sunday morning ("early" being 1000) which is probably the best time to avoid snarling traffic too much.