The Council of the Community of Madrid has approved the declaration of transhumance as a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC), categorised as intangible heritage. This social and cultural phenomenon has shaped the lives of shepherds and their families through its itinerant nature.
Transhumance has left a lasting impact on the region's architectural, cultural, ethnographic, and landscape heritage, evidenced by various infrastructures such as huts, shelters, and pens designed for the refuge of shepherds, alongside corrals, grazing areas, and pens used to protect livestock.
This seasonal movement of livestock—specifically sheep, goats, and cattle—occurs between different ecosystems as herders seek better climatic conditions and more favourable pastures. In 2023, UNESCO included transhumance in its representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The practice has led to the establishment of communication routes that traverse the region, forming a network of livestock paths, including royal drovers' roads, cordeles, veredas, and coladas. Notable routes include the Cañada Real Segoviana, which runs from north to south through the region, as well as the Leonesa Oriental, the Cordel del Puente de San Fernando to El Pardo, the Vereda de la Canaleja, the Vereda de la Soledad, and the coladas and resting places of the Sierra de Guadarrama.
These pathways have traditionally facilitated economic and cultural exchanges between various areas. In the Community of Madrid, transhumance represents a comprehensive cultural system that illustrates land use and fosters social relationships. Currently, it is primarily practised in the Sierra Norte, the Guadarrama Basin, and the Upper Manzanares Basin.
Additionally, tools such as the staff, hook, or crook for managing livestock, as well as iron cauldrons, lunch boxes, punches, and wooden tools for domestic use by shepherds, are significant. Their presence is also notable in the festive and religious rituals of Madrid's villages, including the vaquillas festival in Pedrezuela, Colmenar Viejo, and Navalafuente; the cencerradas in Valdemanco, La Hiruela, and Robregordo; and the celebration of the Pastorela in Braojos, among others.
